Identity
by Mara Jade Jedi
Summary: A new high school, a new life, a new identity nothing could go wrong, right? Well, he'd always said dogs were people too… crossover with the Chronicles of Narnia.
1. Default Chapter

**TITLE:** Identity

**AUTHOR:** Mara Jade

**EMAIL:** marajade764 PG-13

**CATEGORY:** Crossover/Action/Adventure/Drama/Angst

**SUMMARY:** A new high school, a new life, a new identity; nothing could go wrong, right? Well, he'd always said dogs were people too…

**SPOILERS: **SG1 - definitely up to Season 7 Fragile balance…minor ones might crop up after that; I can never tell. Narnia Chronicles; Set between The Silver Chair and The Last Battle, so spoilers for the first 6 books.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Started in response to Teri's 10 minute crossover request but things got a little out of hand.

Another obscure crossover that I don't know where it came from. This one won't be too long (hopefully) and I have a much more detailed plot than usual, which is always a bonus.

Will be focusing on Mini-Jack, with very little to do with the rest of the SGC.

Many thanks to Binksbabe for betaing for me again:D

Here's hoping you like.

**DISCLAIMER: **The characters mentioned in this story are the property of Showtime and Gekko Film Corp. The Stargate, SG-I, the Goa'uld and all other characters who have appeared in the series STARGATE SG-1 together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of MGM-UA Worldwide Television, Gekko Film Corp, Glassner/Wright Double Secret Productions and Stargate SG-I Prod. Ltd. Partnership. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and solely meant for entertainment. The Narnia Chronicles and backstory are the property of C.S. Lewis and associated companies. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author.

* * *

Spotting the hot-headed science teacher who had become the bane of his existence - since being cloned and then insisting on correcting Mr. Shore on both astronomy and wormhole physics within the first day of arriving there before degenerating into a grade A football jock and talking back all the time - striding purposefully down the corridor of Colorado Springs High towards him Jack bit back a groan and impulsively ducked into the first doorway he came to.

Expecting to have to find a reason for interrupting the just-turned-forty-and-oh-so-hot Miss Kandinsky, Jack was completely baffled to find himself standing in a small, wooded courtyard of some kind, opposite a decorative fountain.

For a long moment he found himself only able to stand and stare at the ethereal stone-carved figure of a woman who seemed all at once to stand still and sway as if blown by a gentle breeze as water trickled from the bowl formed by hands clasped and held out in offering.

A sudden movement to his right distracted him though, and he whirled to find a tall, young man in clothes that looked like they'd come out of that _new Lord of the Rings_ film they'd made. The man stood with his hand on the hilt of a sword as he eyed Jack warily.

"What manner of creature are you, and how have you come to be in my garden" the man demanded, his tone and language formal, with a lilt to it that reminded him of the English.

"Hey, who're you calling a creature" he retorted, wishing that he had a

90 with him. Even just a standard 9mm Beretta would have been better than a rucksack and an unused algebra text book. The thought that the only worth the book held was as a shield flickered briefly in his mind, but he quashed it and concentrated on the situation that was developing in front of him.

The man seemed not to hear him as he regarded him curiously, circling to the left slightly, though keeping his sword sheathed for the time being. "You look like a man, yet your clothing is so strange, and your voice so ill-mannered…" Towards the end of his sentence, the man began to sound curious, even hopeful.

"Look, buddy, I was just at school; I came in through that door…" He turned to point at the door he'd entered through, only to find it distinctly missing."…there."

Shifting his pack so that both straps were on his shoulders, Jack moved towards the space the door had previously occupied, his brows beetled in consternation. Stopping about where he thought the door should have been, he uncertainly reached out a hand, pausing for a second before waving it wildly in the air to make sure that it wasn't just his eyes that had futzed out.

The man, momentarily forgotten, had moved up close and was peering at Jack excitedly. "Has Aslan sent another Son of Adam to aid us…but we have no need of aid, and it is barely three generations since my great-grandfather was rescued from the Evil Witch by brave Eustace and fair Jill…" the man seemed to be talking to himself now, and it was making Jack increasingly uncomfortable.

The only way he knew of travelling between two places so fluidly was Asgard transporter-beam technology, and even that wasn't anything like the seamless transition he'd just undergone. If it weren't for the fact that there had been no mirror to touch, he would have thought that he'd gone through the quantum mirror into a parallel universe where modern-day America didn't exist. That led him to two possible conclusions: either this was all some weird hallucination or dream and he'd wake up any minute now, or some aliens had felt the need to kidnap him and put him on a foreign planet with some strange man who looked like he was wearing a skirt.

Weighing up his options, Jack made a snap decision, glad that he'd spent the last year spending huge chunks of his spare time working out.

Going from complete stand-still to full run in one second flat is not an easy thing, and yet Jack managed it nonetheless, sprinting for the eight-foot brick wall he could see, launching himself up to grab hold of a branch and lever himself to the top of the wall, hauling himself over before he'd realised it and landing on the other side with a complete lack of poise or finesse.

Taking only a short moment to recover himself, he was on his feet and running again, hoping to escape before they'd gathered their wits enough to follow him. Coming across a shallow stream, he turned left and ran along with the current, knowing that to run upstream would cost him precious time.

Breathing heavily and slipping on the occasional submerged rock, it wasn't long before Jack heard the distinctive pounding of hoof beats behind him, though they were gaining on him rapidly. A man could run faster than a horse, but only for about the first hundred metres and certainly not along a streambed.

At that moment, he would have given anything to at least be wearing his gym sneakers, which actually did up, rather than his 'uber-trendy' slip-on trainers that didn't even have the luxury of Velcro fastenings awarded to toddlers. His clothes, although they were the height of fashion, offered little protection against whipping branches, and the irritating part of his mind that was always off-topic pointed out that it was ironic, considering that he should have been able to buy at least three decent outfits and a pair of semi-decent boots for the price of his current ensemble. He'd known that at the time, though, and he'd been determined that he would fit in and make a good go of his second time through high-school with his new identity.

He could hear only one pair of hoof beats, though, and decided that his best bet was to leave the stream and ambush the rider, possibly even stealing the horse.

Spotting a viable tree, he launched himself into its limbs, gathering his wits in the brief seconds he had before the rider came into view and charged along the path under the branch he now crouched on.

Unable to see what was going on, but hearing the sound of hoof beats, Jack used his years of experience - albeit squeezed into a now seventeen-year-old body - to judge the exact time that he should jump, not even hesitating for a fraction of a second when that time came.

A split second after he'd leapt, he realised that the rider had reigned the horse in a fraction of a second before he'd jumped, and he found himself falling heavily to the ground just in front of the horse's feet, a deep laugh sounding as the horse released the momentarily restrained momentum and leapt over him, clearing him easily and proving Jack's sudden fear of being trampled unnecessary.

Realising that with his advantage gone, he had no hope against the rider, and he rolled onto his back, lying prone and letting out a soft groan as a twisted ankle, bruised limbs, a battered head, and acute oxygen debt made themselves known.

The vibrations of the horse's now slow, steady walk returning to him travelled through his body, and he waited with his eyes closed, expecting something sharp and pointy to spike him at any moment.

Another deep laugh accompanied the distinctive smell of horse. "Not bad for a foal" the voice intoned. "But you would have saved yourself unnecessary pain had you not bolted as you did."

_Foal…?_ Jack finally squeezed one eye open and looked up, finding the long, dark forelegs of an enormous horse and following them up to the bare chest of a man, sheened with sweat and crossed by the strap of a quiver-full of arrows, though neither a bow nor any arrows were in the hands of the…thing. A head full of hair matching that of the horse's looked down at him as he tried to comprehend the half-man half-horse that stood before him.

If he'd had any energy, he might have tried to get up and been inclined to back away, but instead he lay and stared, the word 'centaur' coming to mind from ancient myths he'd heard when he was a child.

"Well I'll be damned…" he finally exclaimed, giving a half-hearted wave.

"Come, young man, the King wishes to speak with you and learn of the task Aslan has sent you here for."

"King…Aslan…_what?_"

"You will learn, young one, you will learn. For now, I suggest you find the energy to rise; you ran a long way in such a short time."

Pushing himself resignedly to his feet and re-positioning his pack, acutely aware of the weapon that he was sure the horse-man could wield with deadly accuracy, he began the trudge back the way he came, waving off an offer of assistance as he limped along, the twisted ankle protesting vehemently.

After a short time, though it seemed an age to Jack and his injured ankle, they passed the place where he'd jumped the wall and came to an elaborate and exquisitely crafted wrought-iron gate. Set deep into the stone, the gate looked as if it could stand a great deal of punishment before it would give, and Jack doubted that even high-power, concentrated explosives would have had an easy time breaking through them.

Their arrival at the gate prompted it to be swung inwards on silent hinges and Jack found himself falling under the bemused gaze of the man he'd run from. This time he took a little longer on his observations, and noted the slender gold circlet that almost blended in with his fair, blonde hair. _Must be the King,_ he thought, though the man looked like he'd only barely turned twenty.

"A brave, if foolish move, boy. I see that with a little teaching and experience you could become a first class warrior, though." The King seemed more amused than impressed; as if he were humouring a young boy.

"Hey, I've got plenty of experience, buddy."

"I've no doubt…for one of only fifteen years."

"Try fif" he caught himself just in time. "Seventeen" he silently cursed himself, knowing that the correction sounded false, though not for the reasons that the large man-beast and the King thought.

He received another humouring smile, and a chuckle from the horse-man. "I'm sure. Now, if you can manage to resist the urge to escape our treacherous clutches again, I'll fetch the doctor to take a look at your ankle and find you more suitable attire. Let it not be said that King Corrin the third of Narnia neglected a Son of Adam when others in far worse fare did not."

Jack gave a half-hearted protest but was ushered along and was surprised to find that his instincts gave no protest. He wondered if he had perhaps been a little quick to run away, a little too paranoid maybe. He quickly dismissed the thought, reminding himself that there was definitely something strange about walking through a doorway in your high school to suddenly find yourself standing in a fancy garden with a guy with a sword.

* * *

Jack woke up with a start, sitting bolt upright in the bed before holding a hand to his head and wishing fervently that he hadn't.

The last thing he remembered was being led to the room he now sat in. He must have sat down on the bed and drifted off whilst waiting for the doctor that Corrin was supposed to be fetching. Something about the warm fire and soft quilt on the four-poster bed had sent him off without any problems.

Catching sight of a large painting of a magnificent lion stood roaring by a broken stone table, he was overcome by the feeling that there was something he should remember, like he'd had a dream about something important but just couldn't remember what it was.

Pushing himself forward, he felt the screaming protest of muscles unused to the intense punishment he'd put them through yesterday. Ignoring it, he moved to stand and stretch, surprised to see that the coverlet someone had laid over him had slipped off, and the ankle that he was gingerly resting on the floor had been bound for him.

What surprised him most was that under the sheet he had been completely naked. He stood staring for a moment, trying to work out how someone had been able to strip him down and bind his sore ankle without waking him. Even in his new body, he slept the alert sleep of the experienced, paranoid soldier, waking at anything that seemed out of place, usually going from deep REM cycles to wide awake and ready for action in a matter of seconds.

When the door opened, he forgot his surprise and grabbed for the sheet, hastily covering his modesty.

"Haven't you people ever heard of knocking" he bit out harshly to hide his embarrassment.

The young woman who'd entered the room looked down at the log she was carrying. "My apologies. I thought you were asleep still."

Jack rolled his eyes but forced himself to control his temper, all too aware of his nakedness and vulnerability as well as the fact that this young, good-looking woman had already been in the room with him naked. "Where are my clothes" he demanded instead.

"The clothes that you arrived in are being washed and repaired, but I have found others that should fit you." She gestured to the large wardrobe at the other end of the room before quickly striding to the fire and carefully putting the log on it before hurrying out, saying only a few words to inform him that the kettle that hung over the fire should be hot enough to wash with by now.

Hearing the click of the latch as the door shut, Jack let out a sigh and walked stiffly over to it, trailing the end of the sheet as he pulled it off of the bed and favouring his left ankle. Turning the key in the door, he felt secure enough to give up on the large sheet and limped over to the fire, wrapping a heat-darkened cloth around the handle of the kettle, moving away from the fire as quickly as possible as certain sensitive areas began to feel the heat. Carefully pouring the water into the large metal bowl, he tentatively dipped his pinky into it, and immediately deciding that it needed some cold water added.

Ten minutes later he was thoroughly washed, and feeling all the better for it, despite having found several scratches and bruises he hadn't noticed before and a desire to cut his skull open and remove his brain in the hopes that it would stop it from hurting so much. Rubbing at his hair gently with a soft towel, he made his way gingerly to the wardrobe and opened the door, staring in disbelief at the contents for several long minutes.

Hanging inside were several brightly coloured, highly embroidered garments that made up an outfit similar in style to the one Kingie-boy had been wearing earlier; skirt and all.

It took a few seconds of thought before he'd decided that there was no way whatsoever he was going to wear that, but he instead settled for putting on the trousers which were thankfully plain, though they were of a much more fitting cut than he would have liked. The shirt he chose to accompany them was mostly plain as well, but he refused point blank to put on anything else, as it was all covered in embroidery, sparkles, ruffles and frills.

The boots that accompanied the outfit also looked suspiciously fancy, but he slipped his right foot into one of them, surprised to find that they were comfortable, and that the left one could be left loose enough for him to get his slightly swollen and bound left foot into.

This done, he came to the conclusion that he might as well go exploring…or at least see if there was anything to stop him from wandering freely about.

Opening the door and looking cautiously around he came upon the sight of the young woman who had entered his room earlier, sat in a chair and looking incredibly bored, though her face took on a blank expression as she turned to look at him, rising from her seat.

"Do you need help dressing" she asked, a frown creasing her forehead.

"No, I can dress myself just fine" he bit out tetchily, refusing to admit that part of the reason he was feeling so grumpy at being embarrassed was because he found himself attracted to this strange woman.

"I will wait here for you then."

"Look, there's no way that I am wearing any of that fancy frilly stuff; this suits me just fine, thanks."

She stared at him as if in amusement for a moment before seeming to shrug mentally. "King Corrin wishes for you to join him for dinner now" she said before turning and walking briskly off.

Jack began to jog after her, realising almost right away that it wasn't going to happen before settling for a moderately speedy limp. Finally giving up when she turned a corner ahead of him, he called out"Hey! Wait up" He almost ran into her when he turned the corner and found her stood there, waiting for him.

"I apologise, I didn't realise your injury would slow you down so much."

Jack narrowed his eyes at her, but refrained from making a snarky comment, instead asking her name.

"My name" she asked, surprised. "I am Karrena." She seemed to soften toward him for some reason as she walked beside him at a reasonable pace. "What should I call you"

"Uh, Joh-Jack." He decided at the last minute that he would go by his previous name rather than the one he used for his new identity, though he wasn't sure why he had decided that.

"You have an unusual name Joh-Jack."

"Oh, no…my name's Jack, just Jack."

She gave him a slightly puzzled look before smiling slightly. "Well then, it is nice to meet you, Jack."

"The pleasure's all mine" he replied slickly, as he found himself entering a large, lavish room occupied by an enormously long table. At the nearest end sat the man Jack recognised as King Corrin, on his left sat an older man, and on his right was an empty place.

Jack found himself walking into the room alone as Karrena left down a side corridor.

"I see our rebellious youth has roused himself." Corrin smiled broadly at him, gesturing to the empty place. "Come and sit yourself. This is my chief advisor, Lord Farringborne."

Jack hobbled over. "Hi, Jack O'Neill" he introduced himself as he sank into the chair, repressing a grimace.

The two men shared a glance with each other, which Jack didn't miss. "What" he asked grumpily.

"You were sent by Aslan, yes"

"Sent by who now"

"Aslan…" Corrin waited expectantly.

"Sorry, don't have a clue who you're talking about."

"You don't know of Aslan? The Great Lion who Cannot Be Tamed"

"…_Lion"_

"Yes."

"As in big, furry, lots of teeth, and a mane"

"…yes…"

Jack finally pulled his gaze from the face of Corrin and looked at Farringborne, who looked equally serious. It was only now that he noticed the two small horns poking out of the man's curly hair. Jack blinked. "You have horns" he commented conversationally.

Farringborne looked as if he was resisting the urge to smile. "If Jack O'Neill is indeed a Son of Adam, taken from his own world, then is it not likely that he will not know of the Talking Beasts? Legend tells that none of the Sons of Adam or Daughters of Eve had come across anything but humans before they came to Narnia."

A look of realisation dawned on Corrin's face and he quickly apologised to Jack. "I had assumed that you had already spoken to Aslan, but you may not have done. Let me explain…"

An hour later, full of rich, well cooked food and having had the stories of the previous visits from people from Earth explained; Jack was wrapping his head around the information.

"So, you're a…faun…and the horse-man who caught me is a Centaur." Both men opposite him flinched at his use of the term 'horse-man' but said nothing, only nodding to show that he was correct. "And here some of the animals can talk, but not the ones that we're eating…"

"Correct."

"And you all think that I was sent here by some almighty Lion called Aslan for some all-important purpose"

Before either of them could reply the doors burst open and the largest dog Jack had ever seen came barrelling in, careering to a halt beside Corrin, panting heavily. Corrin immediately sent for a bowl of water for the dog, asking him what the problem was.

"They appeared out of nowhere, Sire" the dog panted urgently. "One moment the village was fine, and everyone was shutting up their homes for the night, and the next second there was snow everywhere and a band of men had appeared on horses and charged the village" The dog was obviously resisting the urge to run around in circles as it spoke. "They tried to kill all of the Talking Beasts, and set fire to the home of the Badgers, Ouoooo" The dog trailed off into a keening howl and Corrin leapt immediately into action, his face set into a hard line, anger clearly visible in the tension in his muscles.

"Contact the doctor and have him gather some supplies and helpers and take them out to the village, along with an armed guard. I will follow shortly behind you" he ordered Lord Farringborne before turning to Jack. "It seems your arrival wasn't as unnecessary as we thought it to be. Come with me" he ordered, sweeping out of the room.

Following Corrin out of the room, Jack consciously put his pain aside as he strode after the wrath-full King, the limp all but disappearing now that there were more important matters at hand. Within a few moments of speed-walking, they had arrived in an armoury full of shiny, glinting metal.

Corrin looked Jack up and down once before moving along the walkway and picking up a chain mail shirt, a leather undershirt and accoutrements, moving on to hand Jack a series of pieces of equipment, finally giving him a short sword with sheath and belt and a large knife to accompany it. Bow and quiver full of arrows topped off the large, but surprisingly light pile before Jack was led off again, this time to a room that housed a full set of armour that had the added touch as befitted the King.

"Change as quickly as you can; if you need help, simply ask."

Even as he gave the command Corrin, began to take off his own finery before putting on the far more practical battle clothes and armour.

Although he was slower, Jack picked up how things worked by watching Corrin out of the corner of his eye, though a part of him wondered when Corrin had had the time to send for the more practical clothes and boots for him.

Eventually, sturdier boots tied tight to support his ankle, Jack buckled on his sword and knife, ignoring the slightly impressed look on Corrin's face. "Do you know how to use your weapons" Corrin asked, sceptically.

"A little. Not so good with the sword, but I aced the bow and the knife." Jack admitted, feeling more like a real person than he had…well, since he'd been cloned.

Corrin gave a non-committal grunt and Jack rolled his eyes, grabbing an arrow and fitting it to his bow in a matter of seconds, pulling the taut string and aiming it, though he didn't fire it off.

"Now is not the time to show off" Corrin admonished him, leading him out of the room faster than the armour suggested was possible.

Jack mimed someone having a rant in a response typical of his teenaged peers and, he had to admit, himself recently.

He was led this time to stables, where two horses had been saddled and loaded with what he could only assume were supplies for when they arrived.

Mounting his assigned horse with a little help from the stable boy, Jack forestalled any questions about whether or not he could ride a horse by leading his out into the yard first.

A high shriek form above announced the presence of a large eagle barely visible against the dark night sky.

"I will lead you, Sire" the Eagle called down to them, circling high above the treetops.

"Lead us by the fastest route, noble Hwynvar" Corrin called back, spurring his horse onwards without waiting for Jack.

Jack estimated that they'd been riding for about an hour when they first saw signs of the destruction. Several columns of smoke rose lazily into the air and there was a faint orange glow in the distance. They urged their horses faster and soon Jack recognised the sickening smell of a battlefield. It was that distinctive mixing of fire, death, and blood that would haunt him forever, though this battlefield lacked the rang of explosives.

When they finally came upon the village, it was immediately obvious that there was little they could do now. Jack could see the shapes of several forms laid out in the main 'street' of the village, and there were several people stood huddled in groups, along with one or two smaller shapes that he guessed to be Talking Beasts.

Pulling his horse up behind Corrin's, Jack dismounted stiffly, half listening to what the Captain was reporting to the King.

Following the direction that the soldier gestured in, Jack carefully looked for signs of what had happened, and how they had managed to surprise the village so fully.

A short way from the last of the houses, along the well-trodden path that led into it Jack found the hoof prints of large horses; war horses, he'd guess, although his experiences with horses had been mostly off-world. Ten or twelve of them. Less than fifty metres out, he found that the prints not only disappeared, but they seemed as if the horses had simply jumped out of the air. The deeper prints of the front hooves that appeared first confirmed this idea, inexplicable though it was.

Frowning deeply, he made his way back into the village, looking out for any more signs, or any dangers. He only came across one thing, though, something that fuelled his anger.

When Corrin finally found his young acquaintance, having lost him in the rush of their arrival, he was surprised by the sheer anger in Jack's face, matched by the iron set of his jaw as he carried the limp form of a large tawny owl, an arrow sticking out of its breast. This was no mean feat in itself as the bird was clearly a Talking Owl; it was three or four times the size of a dumb owl.

Gently laying the bird next to the other beings, Jack turned on his heel and strode over to Corrin. "They knew what to expect and they knew it in minute detail. He - she- was shot within twenty metres of where they arrived and they couldn't have done that without knowing exactly where they were."

Corrin was taken aback a little by Jack's demeanour, and it was a short moment before he caught on to what Jack had said. "What do you mean by 'where they arrived'"

"It looks like they jumped off of something about 50 metres out."

"You mean to say they snuck in on a wagon of some sort" the captain asked sceptically.

"No; there was no wagon, no tracks, no nothing. It's like they jumped out of the air."

Both of the older men frowned, clearly puzzled.

"Didn't the dog say something about snow"

The captain nodded. "The villagers say that snow appeared on the ground just ahead of the horsemen and disappeared again as soon as they left."

Corrin let out a great sigh. "We had thought that there were no longer any witches in Narnia, but clearly we were wrong."

Jack remained silent. He'd been told about the witches earlier, but he didn't necessarily believe it. It was far more likely some kind of technology of an advanced race. He'd encountered it being mistaken for magic before on primitive planets.

No-one yet had begun to face the fact that all but a few of the Talking Beasts had been killed, but not a single human had been harmed. The humans had, in fact, been deliberately avoided, even when defending the Beasts.

* * *

Reviews make my day!


	2. Aftermath

Author's Note: Thank you all for the reviews:D I'm glad you're all liking it:D If you're not at all bothered about the religious or non-ship romantic sides of things, then please, skip the over-long authors note (I'm paranoid about offending people and getting snippy reviews).

In response to jmcqk6's question (because it's relevant to more people that just him/her)… Huh? There's Christian Imagery? To clarify: I personally do not follow a religion of any kind but, (thanks in large part to my superb beta Binksbabe) the deeper Christian connotations were pointed out to me and, while I knew the obvious Adam and Eve images, it never occurred to me that there was anything deeper. I'd known that CS Lewis was in some way religious but not to the depth of it all. My lack of religion does not, however, change the fact that it is a key part of the Chronicles themselves and to fail to include them would simply be wrong, and insulting to Lewis himself (as an author). So – with the help of Binksbabe – I will do my best to remain true to it so please; if you spot any glaring errors let me know. At the same time please understand that because I'm not religious, let alone Christian, I won't be making any kind of religious statement, or taking it further than it goes in the books. I am not religious, but I respect that others are; y'all can interpret it in any way you like, though I'd rather you didn't interpret be insulting :D. Sorry to go on, but in my experience religion can be a touchy subject and I don't want to offend anyone.

On a lighter note… there will be some minor romance but it will NOT be ship. I'm clarifying this now because I've had people asking why I wanted to ruin things with romance or ship and it gets right up my nose, because there are notes that say that there will be romance/ship so there's no need to tell me that you don't like it because of that; I'm not asking you to read it if you don't want to. Also, there's nothing worse that wasting your time reading something only to realise that you could have been reading something you'd much prefer. :D

Anywho…a million and one thanks to Binksbabe for her help in all area's and I hope you all like the rest of it!

Congratulations to those of you who managed to get all the way through the authors note… :D

* * *

Their arrival back at the 'castle', Cair Paravel, was without pomp or crowds of concerned faces. It was witnessed by only four sets of eyes, all others closed blissfully unaware in the safety of sleep.

Rolling off of his horse in the ungainly, stiff-legged way of one who is long out of practise and yet hasn't had the time to re-acquaint his muscles, Jack handed his reins over to the young stable-boy, the gnarled old stable master taking the reins of the other two horses.

"My lord, there is food, and drink if you wish."

Jack looked up and squinted in the half-light of the pre-dawn confirming that it was Karrena's voice that he had recognised.

Corrin gave her a tired, grim smile. "You read my mind, Karrena."

Karrena gave him a flicker of a smile before boldly asking, "What news is there of the village?"

Corrin sighed and began a brief explanation before striding off towards the buildings, the faithful Captain Hirdan striding after him, leaving a grumbling Jack to follow in a stiff-legged John Wayne-style walk.

Limping into the kitchens shortly after the others, his mouth watered at the smell of a simple meat stew and fresh bread baking. Ushered to a bench at a large, rough table, he found a large bowl of the stew plonked down in front of him along with a hunk of bread and a glass of pure, clean water.

"Thanks," he said, diving straight in and missing the slightly puzzled looks that the word received from the kitchen maid who was assisting Karrena. Clearing the bowl with gusto, he had barely contemplated requesting more when his bowl was re-filled wordlessly by Karrena.

Slowing down slightly for this round, Jack finally noticed the speculative looks that he was earning from the King and his Captain. "What?" he demanded irritably around a mouthful of bread.

"How is it that someone so young carries the weight of one countless years his elder?" Corrin's voice held a far-away quality, as if he were speaking aloud rather than asking a serious question.

Jack looked down uncomfortably. "Just lucky, I guess."

Corrin raised an eyebrow. "I would hardly have thought it _lucky_ to bear such a weight."

Jack shrugged and remained stoically intent on his food.

"You know of things far beyond your years; you know a battlefield better than many men in my army and your eyes tell a tale of suffering and yet, here you are, behaving like a boy just returned from a day of adventures with young wood-nymphs."

"Wood-nymphs!

Hirdan snorted. "You fool no-one with your poor attempts at changing the subject, boy."

Jack glared at the addition of 'boy' but bit back on his anger before replying. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"You may find yourself surprised, Jack; many strange things have come from the mouths of those who serve Aslan and yet have we believed them."

Jack stood up angrily. "Look, I didn't ask to be here; I don't have to listen to all this pretentious, condescending holier-than-thou crap and there is _no way in Hell_ that I serve your hokey Goa'uld 'god'." Tipping the bench over with his sudden movement, Jack stormed out of the room angrily, know that he'd been way out of line and was over-reacting but nonetheless unable to calm himself, or bring himself to go back and apologise.

It was a good few minutes of fast, angry striding before he gave in to the fact that he didn't have a clue where he was, or which corridor would lead him back to ask for directions. Not that he would have, mind you…

Letting out a frustrated sigh, he turned and punched the wall, realising just how foolish it was halfway through the action and managing to pull the punch enough that he gained only bruised and tendered knuckles instead of broken ones.

"That was not the most intelligent action."

Jack turned and glared at Karrena as she stepped out of the gloom. "How long have you been there?" he demanded angrily.

"I followed you from the kitchens."

As annoyed as he was, Jack couldn't help but to raise an eyebrow, impressed that she could manage to follow him for so long without him noticing. "Wow. Any particular reason why?"

"Because Corrin will worry otherwise and because I knew you would never find the way back to your rooms alone.

"Come; it's been a long night."

Shaking his head and following silently, he repressed a frustrated growl as he found himself entranced by the pendulous way that Karrena's hips swung from side to side, making the long skirt of her dress swish pleasantly. _Damned hormones!_

* * *

Corrin sighed and for a moment he looked like a man twice his age, but in a flash the expression was gone and he rose to his feet, letting out an almighty yawn before patting Hirdan's arm. "Get some rest, captain; I'll send for you when your expertise is needed."

"Yes, my Lord," was the captain's only reply, though his frown made it clear that he was not happy about it. "I trust that you will rest, my lord?" His expression made it clear that he didn't for a second think that Corrin would, but he was duty-bound as both friend and servant to at least try to persuade him.

"I will rest only when I am certain that there is nothing more I can do for Narnia," Corrin replied, finishing with a small half-smile. "You already know that."

Hirdan sighed. "Only too well, sire."

There may not have been any great wars, or conflict since the last time a Son of Adam, or Daughter of Eve had visited Narnia, and Corrin had reigned for only a few short years, but he'd always been alert, and ready for action beside his father at the slightest hint of a threat, whether it be from the Seven Isles or the slow-witted but deathly violent Giants that occupied the land just past their borders.

Jack's arrival, and in fact his very presence boded ill for Narnia; Aslan sent Sons and Daughters of Adam and Eve only when Narnia faced its greatest threats.

* * *

Jack was awoken from his troubled slumber by a quiet knocking on his door. Shaking the faint dream images of a huge, golden lion from his head, he barked out a harsh, 'Come in.' Swivelling to drop his legs off of the edge of the bed, he grimaced and clenched his teeth against the pain; he'd suffered it many times and yet he'd never quite understood how something as simple as over-worked muscles could hurt so much.

The door swing open and, expecting to greet Karrena, he was surprised instead to see a young Faun who looked a lot like Lord Farringborne but on a two-thirds scale and minus the beard and grey hair. "Uh…hi?"

"Greetings. My Lord Corrin asked that I wake you; he wishes for you to come and attend a dinner with him, and visiting dignitaries."

Jack groaned. "Why does he need me for this?"

"Sir…? You are a Son of Adam…" The young faun spoke the comment as if it were an explanation in itself.

"So?"

"You were sent by Aslan himself!"

"Oh for cryin' out loud! I was sent by nobody! Hell, I don't even know _how_ I got here."

The young faun looked so forlorn and chastised that Jack took pity on him. "Look, never mind, okay. I'll come with you." He glanced at the huge wardrobe, "So, you gonna help me figure out which frill goes where? The clothes…" he added at the faun's bewildered expression.

"Certainly; The King specified that I ensure you were properly attired this time. It would not do for a Son of Adam to appear half-dressed to the people of Narnia."

"Jack."

"Pardon?"

"My name is Jack; just stop all of this 'Son of Adam' stuff and call me Jack. My dad's name was Geoff, anyway… You got a name or shall I just call you 'curly'?" Jack asked, eyeing his tightly curled brown hair.

"My name is Tarron Farringborne," he replied, deciding rather wisely to ignore the peculiar 'curly' comment.

"Not by any chance Lord Farringborne's son, are you?"

Tarron's chest swelled with pride. "I am his youngest son."

Jack nodded and pushed himself to his feet, forcing himself to walk normally, if slightly slower than he would normally have. He knew that if he gave in to the urge to limp then his muscles would simply take longer to recover.

Half an hour, and much faffing later, Jack was finally dressed in the latest Narnian fashion and feeling, to put it bluntly, like a complete ponce.

Grumbling to himself, he followed the delightedly proud young Tarron down and into the Great Hall. Resisting the urge to glare at the announcer who introduced him as 'Jack O'Neill, Son of Adam,' he plastered a false smile on his face and allowed himself to be led to Corrin.

Executing a perfect, if stiff bow, he kept his face carefully schooled into a neutral smile. His earlier anger at Corrin had faded along with the fatigue-induced hormones that had escalated it. There was still a faint worry about Goa'ulds, and how and why he'd ended up here. Overlaying that was the now innate anger that he always felt at the knowledge of the slaughter of innocent people. It never occurred to him that he was over-reacting, or that his anger was misplaced.

"Jack O'Neill, you know Lord Farrinborne already; this is Lord Kinroth, and this is the exquisite Lady Sinere." Corrin indicated first a large, bespectacled owl and then a tall, slender young woman with long silver-blonde hair and an ethereal quality. There was no denying the fact that she was the most beautiful woman in the room and Jack just managed to stop himself from rolling his eyes at the obvious, and over the top flattery. _Someone's got a crush!_ He sing-songed inside the privacy of his own head.

Every single occupant of the room was dressed in fine clothes, though he doubted, given the time they'd had to get there that they were their finest; it was an emergency meeting after all. Corrin had sent for them in the middle of the night, asking that they make all haste to arrive to discuss the organisation of areas to defend themselves. All of them were people that were well known and respected by the inhabitants of Narnia.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all," he ground out, silently wishing he could go back to his bed. He didn't miss the lines of fatigue in Corrin's face either, confirming that the young King had taken everything onto himself and not allowed himself to rest.

Despite the gratingly formal and over-polite atmosphere that grated on his nerves, Jack managed to keep the false smile in place throughout the mingling, and the long, many-coursed meal, and he finally allowed it to slip, adopting a sober expression as Corrin stood to speak.

"I'm sure all of you are aware of the reason for this impromptu gathering, and I hope that you all agree that we need to come to a decision on a strategy that will protect all of the people of Narnia against a repeated attack."

"My Lord, is it not possible that this was simply a one-off attack?"

Corrin grimaced at the question of a small, red-haired, chain-mailed dwarf. "It is possible, Lord Nickeldown, but I'm sure that none of us wishes to be caught unawares, and there is no doubt that there are other…omens…" The people at the table all looked unabashedly at Jack, making him bristle. "In addition to this, the Centaurs have been reading the skies and believe that there the future ahead is very uncertain."

A brief muttering went up at this and Jack gathered that it was unusual that the centaurs did not have some idea of what would happen.

Corrin waited for the muttering to die down before continuing. "I propose that we organise the inhabitants of each settlement into setting up a watch every night to warn people at the first sign of-"

"It won't work," Jack interrupted, frowning.

"And what would a mere chick like you know of these things?" grumbled Lord Kinroth, his feathers ruffled.

"A lot more than some old owl who's never seen a battle in his life," Jack bit back angrily.

Kinroth's feathers fluffed even more as he stretched himself to full height from the chair and glared across the table at Jack. "And I suppose that a mere sapling of a human like yourself has seen battle?"

Jack's face was a completely blank mask now, his lips a thin line of distaste. "More than you can imagine! Don't let this body fool you; I've been fighting battles for thirty years, not that that makes a difference to a single damn person!" By the end of the exclamation, Jack was nearly shouting, a sudden anger flaring up within him. "Ex_cuse_ me." He bit out a final two words before turning and storming out, unable to stand the dozen or so sets of eyes staring at him.

Storming through the servants' door, he nearly knocked Karrena flying but managed to grab her arm to steady her, muttering an apology before stalking off again.

A few seconds later, Jack stopped and turned on his heel, glaring at a shadow. "Will you stop that!"

Karrena stepped forwards. "I am sorry. I just thought that you might like to talk to someone."

"I don't want to talk to anyone!" he snapped before spinning and waltzing off again.

Karrena's almost silent footsteps sounded behind him, and he was about to turn and chew her out for following him when he'd just told her he didn't want her there, when he found his arm being grasped.

"Come," was all Karrena said as she led him away, down dark, silent corridors.

After a few minutes of rapid walking, they emerged into the walled gardens and strode swiftly past the fountain of the wood-nymph spirit of a willow tree that Jack had first appeared by.

Leading him around a corner and past a large bush, they came to a much smaller fountain, mounted against the wall and enclosed by shrubbery. Although the actual fountain itself was a simply decorated pipe, and the whole feature was fairly small, it was mounted with the figure of a magnificent winged horse rearing into the air as if to take off.

"The horse is Fledge. The ancient legends say that he bore the children Digory and Polly to retrieve the magical fruit. The tree planted from the fruit kept the white witch at bay for centuries, but the magic eventually failed and that was when High King Peter, King Edmund, Queen Susan, and Queen Lucy were first called to Narnia. Since then, they have been called several times, though those four can no longer return. Eustace and Jill were the last to visit, in the time of my Great Great Grandmother, to rescue Prince Rillian from the Queen of the Underland."

Jack gave her a slight half-smile. "Bit of a history buff, are you?"

"History buff?"

"Uh…I mean, you like history, know a lot about it."

She smiled; a small quirking of her lips that was only just there. "I like to read, and I especially like to read the old legends and stories of the Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve."

Before he could stop it, Jack's face flickered briefly into a pained, wistful expression but, ever perceptive, Karrena caught him out.

"What is it?"

"You just kind of reminded me of someone I used to know for a second there."

"Another…'history buff'?"

As she intended, her use of the slang term elicited another smile, albeit a small one. "Yeah. Why did you bring me here?" He asked the question suddenly, as if it had only just occurred to him.

Karrena shrugged and tucked a lock of dark brown hair behind her ear. "It's quite, calm, serene…completely the opposite to you."

"Hey!"

Dark eyes twinkled in amusement. "You are saying that you are not easily angered, irritable, rash, impulsive-"

"Well…I _am_ in a teenaged body," he finally spluttered, regretting it the moment Karrena's expression sobered.

"With over thirty years' experience in battles?"

Diverting his gaze to the rippling water in the fountain's basin, he struggled with how he'd explain that. "So you heard that, huh?" The comment he finally settled on was lame, but he knew distraction was his best bet.

"Yes."

"I didn't think I was talking that loud!"

"Half of Cair Paravel must have heard you."

"…So I'm a little gobby…"

"Gobby?"

He was starting to find that half-amused, half puzzled look that his expressions elicited faintly endearing. "Loud, mouthy…don't know when to stop talking," he explained, slightly at a loss. It was one of those mysteries of life; it didn't matter whether or not you knew the precise meaning of a word, it was still really hard to put it into words and explain it to someone else.

"Ah, well then yes, you are more than a little 'gobby'."

"Gee, thanks."

"You are most welcome."

"I was being…Oh, never mind."

"Why would I mind it?"

"Gah! Now you're doing it deliberately!"

Her only reply was another vague smile before she smoothly rose to her feet . "Feel free to stay here as long as you like, and to return here whenever you need to calm down. When you wish to return to your rooms, just go through that door there, follow the corridor down, and you should recognise where you are. If not, then ask someone." She began to walk away but then paused and turned back. "And do not think that I did not notice you changing the subject either, Jack O'Neill."

Jack gave her an innocent, 'who, me?' expression before watching her until she was out of sight. Leaning back to lie on the floor and look up at the stars, he banished all thoughts from his mind and simply enjoyed the sight of strange new stars that shone so brightly, because on this world there was no real pollution to obscure the view, or dim the stars. It also confirmed that there was no way he was on earth; he'd studied enough different views of the stars on earth to know that none of these were the same.

* * *

Like, hate, really aren't bothered! Let me know please:D 


	3. Baiting

AN: Hey all! Thanks for the reviews:D I'm glad you all like it; there should be some more soon fairly soon. Hope you like this chapter too:D Many thanks to Binksbabe for beta'ing again and keeping me on track.

* * *

Jack's bad mood had its roots in his frustration at once again being referred to as 'boy' and being dismissed by soldiers that were in reality about half his age. This had only been worsened by the realisation that all the while he was being told to get out of everyone's way and let the 'adults' get on with their 'battle preparations,' they managed to convey a sense of awe and reverence for him that made him feel as if he was parading as some kind of local deity. He'd have likened it to being a Goa'uld if it weren't for the fact that they didn't seem to fear their 'Aslan' or him through association. That didn't mean to say that he didn't think they ought to…after all, Kynthia's people had felt much the same way about Pop-eye, and he'd been using them for experiments… 

At the back of his mind, a little voice niggled at him, trying to point out that there was something very different about the religion of Narnia. After all, what possible use would a Goa'uld have for making animals talk? That's even if it was possible, which he sincerely doubted it was.

"What is it about this fine day that causes you to think so deeply, young one?"

Startled out of his thoughts by the deep baritone voice, Jack turned, silently thankful that his stiff muscles had eased with the gentle movements of his horse. "What?" he asked, realising that although he'd heard the question, he was completely at a loss as to what had been said by the dark Centaur who had just walked up beside him.

"I was wondering aloud at what could have made you think so deeply?"

"Oh, you know."

"No…that is why I had asked."

Jack let out a noise that was somewhere between a growl and a sigh. "It's just a saying; it generally means that someone doesn't want to explain."

The Centaur nodded. "I see." After a long moment of uncomfortable silence, he spoke again. "I am Nightstar; it is an honour to make your acquaintance in a more reasonable situation."

Jack scowled. "Jack-"

"O'Neill. I am aware of your name. You are the one who is a paradox. Older than you appear but younger than you look."

Unsure what to make of the comment, Jack decided that discretion was the better part of valour and remained silent. If Nightstar had anything more to say, then he would. He wasn't going to let the impressive creature know just how eerily close to the mark his words were.

"The skies have become unreadable since your arrival, but even the simplest of creatures can see that your arrival holds dark tidings." Nightstar's words held neither accusation nor question. He was simply stating the facts for Jack, though Jack chose not to hear it that way.

"Look, it's not my fault! I didn't ask to be sent here; I don't even know how I got here!"

"I did not say it was."

"Yeah, well…it was implied."

"Only to your ears."

"Oh, for crying out loud! Do they teach you that at Centaur-school? 'How to be smug and self-righteous in three easy steps'."

Nightstar laughed, which sounded to Jack's ears a very similar to the snicker of a horse. "Who mixed sawdust with your oats, I wonder?" he asked rhetorically, amused by Jack's surliness and ignorant of his glowering. "Do not worry; we will arrive soon, and then you may dismount from your 'high horse'." Laughing to himself as he sped up a little to walk beside Corrin and talk to the King, Nightstar didn't see the gesture Jack shot at him, though it was unlikely he would have understood the meaning if he had.

"Am I right to assume that was not an honourable gesture?"

Jack nearly fell out of his saddle as he spun to turn his glare on Karrena. "Geez…do you have to be so sneaky!" he bit out.

"I am not sneaking in even the slightest. You are merely not listening hard enough."

Jack glared, knowing full well that he was an expert at listening for the conspicuous sounds - or lack thereof - of people sneaking. He also knew that there was no way he would be able to explain this to anyone, though, and settlef for turning resolutely back to face forward.

"We're making good time," Karrena commented, unwilling to let him sulk in peace. "There will be many hours of daylight left to help rebuild and prepare for the remembrance."

Jack grunted a reply, not wanting to think about the horrifying scenes he'd witnessed. He had been successful in keeping the contents of his stomach only because he had become hardened to death; he had in fact seen worse. He hadn't failed to notice several others regurgitating their last meals in the bushes and had respectfully ignored it for their sakes. Even the King hadn't remained immune to it, though he held on longer both because of the sheer shock of something so violent happening in his peaceful kingdom and because he'd wanted to appear strong in the eyes of his people. The truth was, though, that his giving in was probably better than the cold anger he'd been striving to maintain; it showed that he cared and was horrified at it.

Karrena cut herself off in the middle of the sentence as she realised that Jack hadn't heard a word she'd said. Instead, he'd been sitting up in his stirrups and looking around, the hackles on the back of his neck rising inexplicably.

"What is it?" Karrena asked, obviously confused and worried.

"I dunno. I just have a bad feeling…"

A few minutes later, his fears were proved as a large wren came into view, flying erratically across the sky, fighting for every foot of height but rapidly losing. As it neared, it became evident that a wing was injured and it was only just managing to fly. The bird's wings failed it finally, and it crumpled, falling directly towards the floor, caught just metres from the ground by the eagle Gwynhwyvar.

Jack barely took any of this in as he mentally gauged the bird's trajectory over the last few minutes and spurred his horse forwards, breaking through the ranks of the entourage and galloping ahead through the trees, knowing that it was already too late; he was too late, but also knowing that he had to try.

He nearly beheaded himself on low tree branches several times as the horse slalomed through the trees and felt blood trickle from his hairline where another tree had attempted to scalp him as he passed.

Long moments stretched out into an eternity as he sped forwards, hoping against hope that he was wrong, but as he broke out of the trees and swerved the horse around a small cottage, he knew he was right.

The smell of smoke was acrid in his nostrils as he pulled his horse up in the central 'market' square of the settlement. Nearly throwing him in his haste to stop, the horse signified his objection through an indignant harrumph, but, being a dumb beast (no true Narnian would even dream of riding a talking horse, let alone saddling and bridling one) could do no more than that.

Turning his head left, Jack caught sight of two lone riders who were systematically setting the thatched roofs of several houses alight. Not even pausing to think, Jack turned his horse and sped after them, the pounding of the horse's feet and the cries of a single lone infant the only noise he could hear. In the back of his mind, he knew there would be others; the crackle of flames, the shouts of other people and animals, stricken death cries, but he could not hear them as he was so focused on his task.

Releasing the reins, he grabbed bow, notched an arrow, and fired, automatically compensating for the movement of the horse as he would have for the movement of an assault vehicle over rough ground. The rider furthest from him fell instantly from his horse, kicked by the animal in its fearful attempts to flee.

Realising belatedly that he was now too close to use his bow on his second, nearest opponent, he dropped the weapon and pulled out instead the short sword, pulling his arm back to swing as he reached the other man. He realised his fatal error too late, as the other man turned and met his attack, neatly disarming him even as Jack grabbed the man's arm and pulling him from his horse before following him to the ground.

Rolling away and picking himself up, Jack realised the enormity of what he'd taken on. His enemy was several inches taller and about a foot wider than him at the shoulders. He heaved a deadly looking broad sword with ease, cleaving the air where Jack had just recently been lying.

"Oh crap."

The man made no comment, opting instead to swing again, and Jack realised that there lay his advantage. Though his enemy had strength - and a helluva lot of it - he lacked finesse and skill. He was a brawler; more suited to an axe than a sword whereas Jack was a master of unarmed combat and armed combat of several types, and he still had his long sword.

Dancing away from the flying blade, Jack pulled the knife and dropped into a combat stance, dancing and bouncing on the balls of his feet, leaping away from each swipe of the blade.

The brash, angry movements were taking their toll, though, and Jack could see the other man tiring. No doubt he'd already used the sword several times.

The morbid thought spurred Jack onwards and as the other man swung too hard, his sword flying wide, Jack darted forwards and slashed the man across the throat, leaving him to stagger backwards and fall to the ground, his life flowing out through his neck.

Hearing the slow footfalls of a walking horse, Jack spun, knife in hand ready to defend himself. Seeing that it was only Corrin and a group of the people who had been accompanying the procession on the road, he relaxed, his body sagging as the adrenaline left it.

"You're bleeding."

Jack shrugged. "Just a scrape from a low-flying branch."

Corrin, and indeed most of the people were turning horribly green and the sounds of retching could be heard as people caught sight of what was undoubtedly the site of a slaughter.

Receiving no further comment from Corrin, Jack sighed and bent to clean his blade on the shirt of the man he'd just killed. This done, he turned back to Corrin, who was watching him in fascinated horror. "I _suggest_ that you set up a perimeter and get people looking for survivors; anyone who can be helped. But then again, I _am_ just a boy, so you might want to reconsider that." He didn't bother to hide the bitterness in his voice as he turned back to the body and began searching it methodically for any hints as to where he came from, or why he was here.

"What are you doing?" The King's Captain sounded horrified as he stared at Jack's looting of the body.

Jack glared at him. "I'm searching the body, if that's okay with you?"

"But you're looting a dead-"

"Captain!" Corrin cut him off sharply, a dark look on his face. "Jack is right. This is a time of war; the niceties of peace time are over. I see that now." He gave Jack an indecipherable look. "Do as Jack suggests," he ordered, dismounting his horse to join Jack. "Have you found anything?"

"Nope. Nada. Nothing. They've deliberately removed anything that might identify them, or their affiliation. There's no jewellery, no ID, no coinage…"

"They do not wish us to know who they are."

"Got it in one."

"Then why strike here? It was common knowledge that we would be passing through here on our way to Beaversbrook."

Jack was silent for a moment, scanning the market place, unconsciously registering the current position of all the people there, his eyes resting for a moment on Karrena as she checked bodies for life, pausing occasionally to cough up what was left of her breakfast. She had been off of her horse and checking for survivors before Corrin had even given the order, and was only twenty metres or so further down; not far from where the second marauder had fallen.

"They're taunting us, only I don't think they expected us to arrive this soon. Karrena said it herself; we were making good time. They intended for us to come up on it unannounced once they were long gone."

"But why?"

Jack shrugged. "Noticed that-"

He stopped short as a shout sounded and instantly turned to where Karrena had been; where the shout had come from and where Karrena was now being held in a strangle hold by the soldier Jack had shot.

The arrow was still sticking out of the man's shoulder, leaving him with only his left arm free, which he'd tightened around Karrena's neck.

Instantly, the adrenaline was back, surging through his veins like a long-missed nectar, and without thinking about it, Jack reached for the knife, settled it into his hand for a second to test the balance and weight, and then threw it, ignoring the fear on Karrena's face as she thought it was going to hit her. It remained dead on target though, and the man fell instantly, the knife now embedded in his skull.

Behind him, Corrin threw up again, echoed by many others in a staccato wave of revulsion.

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Little bit of the action in there. You like, or not? I can use the puppy dog eyes if you like… 


	4. Revelation

Author's Note: Thank you to you all for the reviews! Hope you all carry on liking it:D As ever, thanks of the huge kind to Binksbabe for beta'ing and enthusiastic support!

* * *

Jack ignored the sounds of what was now dry retching behind him and jogged over to where Karrena had slumped to the floor, released from the grip of her attacker. The stench of death surrounded him and he had no doubt that it was one of the larger factors contributing to the reactions of the people. Some people - mostly the older one and the soldiers that formed the martial aspect of the group - had maintained control as he had, and he knew that it would pass for those who hadn't. They would become accustomed to death as he had so many years ago, and seeing a knife embedded in the face of a man wasn't a particularly nice sight.

He knew that he'd been sick the first time he'd seen a body and his experience had shared none of the soul-wrenching violence and slaughter that he could see surrounded him here. Fleeing mothers and children had been mown down as they tried to escape.

Even now, after thirty odd years of death and battle the sight of a child killed so violently turned his stomach. This was the bit that they never showed on the films, that wasn't included on TV. This was the hardest part.

Reaching Karrena he crouched low, opening his arms wide in the least threatening manner he could. "Hey," he began softly.

Karrena jumped violently, her gaze finally ripped free from the corpse that she had been staring at wide-eyed. "I - he – you." Tears began to spill from her eyes and she began to shake as the shock kicked in.

"It's okay; you're safe now," he murmured to her soothingly as he hooked an arm around her waist and pulled her to her feet. If he'd been a few years older and a fair bit stronger, he would have carried her, but he still had a fair bit of growing to do. "Come on, let's get you over here…" He took her around the side of a building at the edge of the village and sat her down on a log."Hey, you!" he called out to a lady of the court who was stood with her horse, wringing her hands in frustration and worry.

"Excuse me?"

"I want you to get a few friends together and light a fire. Look in the supplies and see what you can dig out to make first some kind of hot drink and put lots of sugar in it. Then I want you to cook food for this lot; you might not believe it now, but by the time they're finished, they'll be starving. Nothing fancy, mind you. And someone needs to sit with her and make sure she drinks a little; she's in shock, but she'll be okay."

"I am a lady of the court; give your orde-"

"I don't care if you're the Queen of freaking Sheba; you can take your head out of your ass and do something useful!"

The woman gasped, apparently at Jack's use of coarse language. "Why, I have never been so insulted in my entire life!"

"What part of 'I don't care' did you not understand? You can enlist the help of everyone who is not currently doing something constructive and start setting up the camp while you're there." The woman opened her mouth to protest but one look at the demonic visage of Jack, a trail of blood down one side of his face soon changed her mind.

"Well, hop to it, then; I'm sure that everyone will appreciate the way that you've kept your head during this crisis and made sure that _everyone_ is cared for."

The incentive of the credit that she would receive was all it took to set her on her way, all a-bustle and full of brisk commands. Jack shook his head as she went. Some people were born to order people around, and she was a perfect example of that. Others were born to lead, and he knew only too well the burden this placed on people.

Noting that a ladies' maid who'd heard the orders had already seen to getting Karrena a blanket - albeit a dusty one that stank of horses - and was sitting with her and comforting her, Jack quickly marched back to the battlefield.

Already, the people of the village had come out of their homes, though there were pitifully few of them left and, Jack noted, not a single talking beat amongst them, and together with the people from their royal procession, they were searching the bodies for survivors.

There were barely any. Whoever it was that had attacked them, they were efficient killers and knew their prey exceptionally well.

A shout from a few hundred yards away announced the presence of a survivor, and Jack sprinted over to the crowd that was quickly gathering. At the centre of the group was a squirrel in his early teens.

Trying to push to the front of the group, Jack became increasingly frustrated as he was repeatedly pushed back by larger and stronger men.

"Oh for crying out load!" he exclaimed as his attempt to break through the throng failed once again. Finally giving up on being polite he yelled; "MOVE IT _PLEASE!"_

Turning and recognising the boy they had seen killing two soldiers so easily, they began to move out of the way quickly, one small bear sucking on his paw and hiding behind his mother - or it could have been father; Jack wasn't particularly adept at telling with the talking beasts - as Jack passed, obviously afraid, as people are prone to be when faced with the unknown.

Finding Corrin in the centre of the group, talking to the young squirrel as another person bound a wound on his left arm, Jack asked how he was doing, making a point of not dismissing the child as just that.

"I am fine," he replied, trying to sound manly and brave even as he squeaked at a bandage pulled to tight.

"Can you tell us what happened?"

Fleetpaw, as he'd been introduced, nodded, tears welling in his eyes despite his attempts not to cry. "They appeared at the very edge of the village, by the Otters' burrow. It was as if they jumped out of the air and there- there was snow where they appeared." He paused to sniff back tears. "And then they killed everyone. My mother and my father and my sisters and my brother. They're all gone!" At the last sentence his brittle control over his tears broke and he wept openly.

Corrin sighed and, suddenly realising that they had acquired an audience, he waved them off, berating them for making a spectacle of Fleetpaw in the way that they had.

Seeing that Corrin was apparently finished talking to the boy, Jack stepped forwards and seated himself cross-legged on the floor in front of him. "Hey, buddy. I need you to do something for me, okay?"

Fleetpaw nodded timidly and rubbed at his tears, making the fur around his eyes stick up everywhere.

"I need you to be real grown up and keep a friend of mine company, can you do that?"

Jack received a slightly confused nod and a sniffle in reply and continued unabashedly, gently leading the young squirrel towards the area where camp was being set up. "See, she was attacked just now, and she needs someone to be brave for her and to keep her company until she feels better. Can you do that for me?"

Stopping at the edge of the 'camp', Jack got an affirmative from Fleetpaw and sent him in the direction of Karrena. Pausing only long enough to make sure that he was headed in the right direction, Jack returned to help with the abhorrent job of sorting through the dead.

Already at the end of the village furthest from their camp was the dark shape of the dead villagers, each of them laid out respectfully side by side, awaiting their burial.

Shoulders slumped and aching, all expression fallen from his face, Jack finally allowed himself to slump dejectedly on a log beside Karrena. Her face was a pale, almost white shape in the deceptive twilight. Fleetpaw had long since been whisked off by caring neighbours better suited to looking after him, and Karrena had been left to her own thoughts by well-meaning people who had misguidedly refused to give her something to do, thinking she was in too delicate a state.

Tearing her gaze away from the fire to stare at Jack, it was several long moments before she could bring herself to speak, and Jack remained silent, knowing that the best thing he could do was to allow her time to think things over. She'd talk when she was ready, and he would reassure her then.

"You…killed him…"

Jack carefully kept his face neutral, although it had not been the comment he'd been expecting. Sure, he'd been expecting it to come up, but he thought she'd be more focused on the fact that the man had been trying to kill her.

He gave a slow nod. "Yeah…"

Shaking her head as if he'd misunderstood what she'd meant, her forehead furrowed as she rephrased the comment. "You….you didn't even hesitate…didn't think about it."

More than a little lost, Jack cocked his head ever so slightly to one side and gave a barely visible shrug. "He was gonna kill you."

Karrena blanched at that reminder of her own mortality and Jack inwardly winced, aware that he should have perhaps phrased it a little less callously.

There was another long pause before she forced herself to continue, struggling to order her thoughts and sort out the mess of questions in her head.

The sounds of normal life, of the fire, of cooking, of a child crying for food, of the snores of people too exhausted to stay awake all contrasted sharply with the grief that hung in the air like a tangible presence, the stench of death lingering and lurking behind that of the smoke.

When Karrena finally broke the tense silence between them, she spoke haltingly, almost stuttering. "I've…I've seen death before and, I mean I've been out…on hunts…my parents…" Her voice wavered, and she took a breath before continuing. "So violent…so many… and you, you're just a boy. Younger than I am. And you just…killed them." She took another shuddering breath as her voice cracked, and Jack didn't doubt that she was playing the scene over in her head again, unable to escape the horror. "Even the oldest of the soldiers…they didn't…couldn't."

_Just a boy._ Jack had inwardly bristled at that, but seeing the distraught figure beside him made him swallow his pride and for once accepted that this was how they saw him. They couldn't really be blamed for treating him as a boy when they didn't know the truth.

Concentrating once more on her words he tried to understand what she meant, what it was that was bothering her. He wanted nothing more than to be able to reassure her and easer her mind.

Her last sentence, unfinished as it was gave him the final link and he finally began to understand what she was trying to say.

The mere thought of a boy who looked as if he had only just reached sixteen having had his innocence stolen to the point that he could kill so easily and without thought or hesitation sickened him to the very bones. _He_ knew that he was really more than 50 years old and had over 30 years experience at killing but to them he was 'just a boy'.

Nodding to Karrena but avoiding meeting her eyes. "Seeing someone who looks so young killing is enough to freak even the most battle-hardened of soldiers out."

Karrena nodded once but remained silent, mulling things over in the privacy of her own head for a few moments more.

Should he tell her or not? God knows it would be a relief for him to not have to watch what he said for a change; to be able to share the weight of his secret with someone else…to not have to feel the guilt of lying to people who put trust in him.

Coming to a decision he felt a weight lift from him as he stared into the darkness and took a deep breath before plunging ahead. "Truth is, Karrena…I'm not as young as I look."

From the corner of his eye he saw that she was sending him a confused look that told him she didn't understand the full significance of what he was saying.

Before he could take his explanation any further they were approached by a young page boy from the King's entourage who informed them that they were to attend the king immediately in his tent.

Ever obedient, Karrena was on her feet and striding off before the boy had even finished.

Letting out a short growl Jack pushed himself to his feet and walked stiffly after her, regretting sitting down in the chill air for so long. Every muscle had seized up and screamed at him to just lie down and never move again and his ankle reminded him that it had been sprained as he stepped into a dip he hadn't seen coming, jarring as he touched ground several inches lower than he'd expected.

He was still cursing as he glared at the guards until they allowed him to enter the tent, at which point he fell silent and nodded respectfully at the gathered beings, automatically noting who was there and where they were sitting. Most notable were the King's advisors, including the Captain of the Guard, and Lady Sinere, who was sitting almost intimately close to the King, although he seemed oblivious to it.

He also couldn't help but notice Karrena's tense body language as she stood, head respectfully bowed. Jack limped over and stood beside her but resolutely refused to bow his head to the people, meeting their eyes defiantly.

Corrin gestured for them to both seat themselves on the cushions that had been set out for them, following the suit of the others in the tent. Pausing only long enough for them to seat themselves, Corrin jumped straight to business. "All of us have been wondering what exactly it was that prompted you to charge off into the forest as you did, Jack. We only surmised that there had been another attack after the wounded creature managed to relate the information to us with her last gasps…"

Jack shrugged, fighting the tightening of his muscles as he picked up on Corrin's aggressive and distrustful tone. He could only wonder at what had caused this drastic change in Corrin's behaviour. "I'd tracked the bird's trajectory and seen the direction that she came from. I also saw that it was an arrow wound that had almost crippled her…I put two and two together and got four. I knew that if I were to ride in the general direction that the bird had come from, I would see signs to tell me more precisely where the village was…it couldn't have been far for her to reach us with such a serious wound."

Sinere frowned, her eyes narrowing suspiciously. "How could you be so certain that there had been another attack on a village, and it wasn't merely an unfortunate accident? It seems a rather foolish presumption to make."

"Believe me, I'd rather have looked like an idiot and been wrong about the whole thing."

Another of the Lords gathered, an owl, ruffled his feathers and gave a short disapproving hoot. "But you were not wrong," he stated. "In fact, you seemed to know unerringly just what was going to happen and where they'd be… especially for a mere hatchling."

Once again, Jack bristled at the implied insult and clenched his jaw to stop himself from being snarky. "Are you trying to suggest that I somehow had inside information on this?" he ground out instead.

"You must admit; it does seem most strange that no sooner do you appear than these attacks start happening," Sinere pointed out carefully.

Corrin remained silent and thoughtful, taking in everything that was said but refrained from commenting. Jack could sense the tense anger in Karrena next to him but couldn't decide whether it was directed at him, or in defence of him.

"I know what I know through observation and training. The wounds on the bird were similar to those found on the owl who'd been shot at the edge of the first village; shot as they tried to take off and tried to flee. It was the same MO." Even as he tried to explain, he knew that he was fighting a losing battle. Something had turned the people in the tent against him and there was little he could do to convince them otherwise. It reminded him vaguely of Kinsey's assertions that SG-1 were at fault and that they had brought the wrath of the Goa'uld down upon earth. He pushed away the now familiar pang of pain that thinking about SG-1 brought him, waiting for them to reply; he was surprised, however, when it was Karrena who cut in.

"He was sent by Aslan to help us."

He felt a rush of gratitude towards her and found his resolve bolstered by the knowledge that he was not entirely alone.

"We have no proof of this…he himself has professed that he has never heard of Aslan, let alone met and been sent by him."

Jack felt an urge to glare at the Captain's quick reply and barely checked the urge to roll his eyes. They expected him to both believe and admit that he was sent here by some snotty little Goa'uld? _I don't think so, buddy!_

It was now that Corrin decided he would speak and his words filled Jack with both relief and tension.

"Why not let Jack speak for himself? He claims training and obviously has experience, and yet he has not told us the truth behind this." Corrin's suggestion received nods and murmurs of approval all round.

"Okay, this is going to be a little bit hard to explain but…here goes… Where I come from, we have a _really_ different life. I am…was a Colonel in the Air Force - a kind of army - and I used to go out and fight all kinds of bad guys…recently, aliens."

"Aliens?"

"Beings from other planets…other worlds. Well, one of these aliens was from a race that is friends with us, but he was a renegade of sorts…" He gave them a wry grin, trying to fight off the sinking feeling that none of them were going to believe him. "…A mad scientist. He took me - the original me - and cloned me, along with a complete copy of all of my memories. For some reason though, the cloning went wrong, and I came out looking fifteen instead of my true age of fifty…" _ish._

He was met by disbelieving stares.

"…clone?"

He sighed and explained. "An exact genetic copy, right down to the tiniest freckle."

It took a further half hour of repeating himself before they finally understood and began to accept what he was saying. Their response was not, however, anything he would have expected.

"…So you were created not by the union of husband and wife but in a …'test tube'?"

Jack didn't like the revolted, disgusted, and sickened looks that this affirmation received, but he also knew that he couldn't and wouldn't lie about it again.

His reply was long and drawn out, unsure of what the result would be. "Yeeah…"

"Aslan save us!" someone exclaimed.

"Blasphemy!" cried another.

"He is an abomination!"

The furore went on and Jack was dismayed to notice that Karrena too was looking at him, an appalled expression on her face. He belatedly realised that these people who believed that all life had been created by Aslan neither liked, nor could cope with the idea that there was any other way to create life. The idea that it could have been done another way was abhorrent to them, and he felt a sick fury that they couldn't be reasonable, or rational about it. He was obviously there, he was obviously alive; he wasn't evil for crying out loud!

The explanations became only more vehement as they began to fear that they, too had been tainted by their association with him.

Unable to stand the complete rejection of even Karrena who'd earlier defended him and trusted him, someone he'd liked to have considered a friend, Jack didn't even bother to mask the pain on his face as he sent one last, pleading look at Karrena before he turned on his heel and took off, stalking into the dark tree line and leaving them and their accusations behind.

_Screw you all!_ he thought viciously as he left them to fight for themselves, trying to pretend that he didn't feel utterly betrayed.

* * *

So, tell me what you think:D Pretty please? 


	5. Runaway

Thanks for all of the reviews! You're a bunch of stars:DSorry about the delay in updating butwell, i'm an complete eejit and got stuck with internet on one computer and the file on another withthe little added bonus of something in my house making every single floppy drive go kaput. To make up for it, i'll post chapter six shortly after the weekend. :)

Thanks again! And thanks to Binksbabe for the betaing services.

* * *

Heading single-mindedly for the tree line he stalked off without a backward glance. The part of his mind that cared - the part that, if questioned about, he would vehemently deny existed - listened hopefully for a voice calling to him, asking him to come back. He tried desperately to pretend that it wasn't one particular voice that he hoped to hear.

He reached the trees without a sound being uttered and without a pause he plunged himself into the dark, robbing himself of the safety of the group and the fire. Almost straight away, he felt the chill night air begin to seep into his clothes. However warm the autumnal days might have been, it was no doubt that winter was rapidly closing in on them.

Wrapping his arms around himself, he was suddenly glad for the thickness of the jerkin he wore and for the lightness of the chain mail. He was uncomfortably aware both of the cold that crept through his defences and that his environment was still giving off its last vestiges of heat; it would only get colder.

He knew that he should swallow his pride and go back, even if it was only to grab a cloak and some food but both his pride and an unwillingness to face such harsh appraisal again stopped him.

Instead he marched off, anger seething within him, betrayal gnawing on his insides, reasoning that he'd survived worse, regardless of which body he'd been in.

Plodding steadily onwards through the ache of overused muscles, his head pounding with each footfall, he initially dismissed the nagging feeling that he was being followed. Shaking his head to try to clear it, he pushed himself on, only to pause suddenly when he thought that he could hear the sound of footsteps behind him, only slightly out of time with his own.

Listening carefully, adrenaline beginning to seep into his bloodstream, he continued walking but deliberately took a long step, paused mid-motion and concentrating intently. Abruptly, he was certain that he was being followed as a soft footfall sounded before becoming uncannily quiet.

Taking a split second to think, he carried on again, knowing that if they'd noticed he'd stopped then they would have hidden themselves, expecting him to turn and look.

Instead, he carried on as he had been shortly before, listening and trying to gauge just how far behind him his stalker was. He quickly came to the conclusion that whoever it was was an excellent woodsman - or rather, woodsbeing - as the noises that he would have expected considering his recent intrusion continued as normal.

After what he judged to be about five minutes, he suddenly turned, whipping his head around in a jarring motion that his already tender muscles screamed at.

To his surprise and consternation, though, he could not see a thing. There were no sudden flashes of movement as his follower hid suddenly, no incongruously shaped shadows…not even the waving of a leaf disturbed in passing.

Resigning himself to that fact that his over-tired and overstressed mind was playing tricks on him, he turned slowly back the way he had been travelling before, shivering slightly as the sudden lack of movement relinquished the edge his body had gained over the intrusive cold.

After another period of monotonous marching, he was both surprised and relieved when he realised that he could see the flickering of a distant fire through the trees. Coming wide awake in an instant, he continued towards the campers, cautious in a way that thirty years of unexpected encounters with natives who weren't always on their side had taught him.

He'd barely gotten ten meters closer in his limping shuffle when a furtive figure appeared at the edge of the circle of light wearing a hooded robe and carrying a bundle slightly awkwardly. He paused in the shadow of a tree, realising almost right away that the person was going to be heading straight for him.

Sizing the figure up, he made a snap decision based on the behaviour and body language of the figure as well as his gut instinct; there was no doubt in his mind that they shouldn't be doing whatever it was that they were doing. If he'd been more awake, in a better mood, and not running low on energy, he might have taken a second and realised that it was not the best idea he'd ever come up with.

Nonetheless, as the figure passed his hiding place, he darted out, snaking an arm out and clamping over their mouth even as he twirled them around, completely disorienting and throwing them off balance before deftly pinning them to the tree he'd just hidden behind.

Using all of his body to pin the person, who was only a few inches shorter than him, he was suddenly aware of two rather important things. Silently cursing his hormones as he recognised the body as being slim and very definitely female, Jack focused on her eyes, recognising them and the terror in them instantly.

Stepping back, embarrassed, he motioned for her to be quiet. "Sorry!" he muttered earnestly before grabbing her hand and pulling her away, resolutely refusing to give into the urge to limp whilst he prayed for the ground to swallow him up where he stood.

She tried to comment several times, but he just hushed her and pressed on.

After about fifteen minutes, he finally slowed the pace and fell into step beside her, glancing at her face. All the time he'd been rushing away from the camp he'd been trying to figure out how he'd ended up back at the camp. When he'd set off he'd named a few of his own constellations and used them to make sure that he kept waking in a straight line. Despite being in the trees, he'd known that they were thin enough to allow him to glimpse the skies every few minutes, so why had he ended up going full circle?

He'd also been resolutely ignoring the little jolt of pleasure his emotions had dealt him when he realised that Karrena had come looking for him.

That one look at her face now, her hood thrown back as they marched away from the camp and the moonlight shedding enough light to see by told him it had been something else entirely though.

"What happened?" he demanded, his face darkening.

Karrena shook her head, refusing to meet his eyes. She had pulled her hand from his within seconds of starting away from the camp, and Jack could almost seem the revulsion coming off of her in waves. He'd forgotten what they thought of him now that they knew the truth.

Not willing to press the issue, Jack nodded once, his expression carefully neutral.

They continued on in silence for a time until Jack found that even the anger that was now simmering renewed in him wasn't enough to keep him going without stumbling.

Deciding that the small enclosed shelter provided by a fallen tree and a few dense bushes would be sufficient for them to rest, hidden from passing eyes, Jack propped himself against the trunk of a tree and folded his arms over his chest to try to retain a little of the heat he had generated whilst walking.

Sighing at the slightly pained relief in his abused muscles, he rested his head against the tree and closed his eyes, knowing that there was no way that he could stand to stay awake to keep a watch, even if Karrena had been willing to trust him now. In turn, he'd just have to trust that whatever had caused her to sneak out of the camp like that would be enough to keep her here and not to sell him out, though he doubted that Corrin and company were even interested in him any more.

Even with his eyes closed and half asleep, he was immediately aware of the fact that Karrena had seated herself as far away from him as she could get within their enclosed clearing. He knew that she'd most probably stay awake to keep an eye on him, uncertain of him now that she knew where he came from.

He repressed a sigh as he gave in to sleep, his breathing becoming deep and even, his eyes beginning to flicker and flutter behind his eyelids as he began to relive some of the worst times in his life, the recent massacre bringing it all back up to the surface again.

* * *

When he awoke to the half-light of the breaking dawn, he felt as if he had barely rested at all, though logic told him that it had been several hours between the Moon beginning to set as they had stopped for the night and the sun rising now. 

Uncrossing his arms with a wince, he began to lift his legs and had to stifle a curse as he realised just how much he'd seized up over night.

Dropping his head back against the tree he'd been leaning on, he took a deep breath and tried to muster the energy to just get up. People underestimated just how much over-exerting muscles that weren't used to it could hurt. His new body might be young, spry, and lacking the infirmities of the knees that he'd had before, but it was seriously out of shape. Thirty years of regular exercise and long marches had toughened his old body so that he could go forever without even thinking about it, but this feeble little thing he had now hadn't even begun to come close in the time since he'd started school. Sure, he was strong for his age, even if he did look scrawny…it had been the same the first time around, so he knew that any time now, he was going to go through a major growth spurt.

The insistent pressure of his bladder and the lack of feeling in his buttocks were all the incentive he needed, though, and taking a deep breath, he forced himself to use muscles that screamed in agony as he pushed himself up and very nearly right over to land on his face.

Glancing at Karrena to make sure she was asleep as he caught his balance, he limped over to the gap in the bushes and pushed through. Force of habit meaning that even in the lumbering gait people who over-exerted themselves were well versed in, Jack moved almost silently, finding a convenient place to relieve himself as the pins and needles set in.

Moving more easily now that he was up and about, Jack was scowling as he returned to Karrena, rubbing his butt with both hands to try to get rid of the painful tingling.

Karrena was awake now and giving him an indecipherable look as he shuffled past.

"What? I have pins and needles!" he barked at her, annoyed at the look she was giving him.

A briefly confused look flitted across her face but she remained silent, which suited Jack in his irritability fine.

Leaving Karrena to herself for the time being, unwilling to look at her for fear of the disgust and revulsion he knew would be there, he stamped his feet and rubbed his hands together for a while, trying to ease the faint sluggishness that a night of chill air had brought to them. As he did this, he turned over his options in his mind.

Finally coming to a decision, he glanced at Karrena without really looking at her, noting everything with military ease except the expression on her face. "You coming?" he asked, adding a little nonchalance into his tone.

He started out again without waiting for her reply, moving again at a steady speed that he could keep going for hours. He knew that it could go one of two ways; she'd either ignore him completely and set off on her own, or she'd follow him and tag along. He suspected it would be the latter and was rewarded with the sound of a hasty rustling and a rush of footsteps that quickly caught up with him.

It was human nature to want to cling on to what was familiar and, despite the fact that she abhorred his existence, he was the most familiar thing around. Coupled with the fact that he'd rushed her off so that she probably had little or no idea where she was, he was the safest bet to her right now. He was glad, because he knew that if she'd ignored him then he would have had to follow her until he was sure that she'd made it somewhere civilised without being attacked by a bear - dumb bear - he corrected.

After a short while of walking, the sun finally crested the horizon, dappling the forest floor with a golden-orange speckling.

Turning so that the sun was in front and to the left of him so that he was travelling roughly northeast, Jack hoped to reach the Great River soon, remembering that they'd been on the west side of the river, and that it apparently ran more or less north across Narnia.

After a half hour more, Karrena finally broke the silence with an uncertain question. "Where are we going?"

"North East."

"Where North East?"

"The Great River."

Karrena nodded, looking down at the floor and frowning slightly and Jack held back a curse. Things were going to be bad enough without him being so unsociable and bad tempered. It was hardly a way to regain her trust, after all. "There's bound to be a town or village on or near the river; it's a universal constant. Hopefully, there'll be somewhere to rest, get food. We'll have to work for it, though. We can sort out getting you back to Cair Paravel." He added the last bit for her peace of mind, to let her know that he wasn't going to kidnap her or anything.

Karrena scowled at him. "No."

"…No, what?"

"I will not return to Cair Paravel."

"Ah. Feel like telling me what happened?" He was surprised at the rise of his anger within him, the urge to deck whoever had so obviously hurt her so much, rising despite his vehement refusal that, despite the betrayal, a part of him still hoped that she'd look past the whole cloning thing.

"No."

"You know it's gonna be a long way to anywhere. That's a lot of long, lonely silence to fill."

"I didn't ask you for your companionship," she bit back irritably, apparently not amused by Jack's attempts at being civil and sociable. He'd thought the fact that she hadn't run off on him or reminded him that he was an abomination was a promising sign but apparently not.

Jack stopped dead, his own temper, already stretched, snapping effortlessly. "Well then by all means, find your own way. I'm sure there's some wild coyote or something just waiting for a snack."

Karrena glared at him. "The creatures of Narnia are intelligent, friendly, welcoming and either way I've never heard of any creature called a Ky-oh-tee."

"Well okay then, little Miss Independent, you go your way, and I'll go mine!" Even as he stormed off, Jack was berating himself for letting himself get so angry. Again.

Although he knew he'd been able to control his temper before, he also remembered that he wasn't that person any more. He was a Xerox…and a bad one at that.

* * *

So, what do you think? I'm not so certain about this one but... It's up to you. 


	6. Reconciliation

See, quick update for a change:D See, it was a good thing i didn't drown over the weekend (despite having a leaky drysuit) of you'd have been left hanging... Hehe. Sorry, wierd mood. I'll let you get on with it! Thanks for the reveiws and thanks to Binksbabe for the beta'ing!

* * *

Within minutes of storming off he'd realised that he was being irrational and had been halfway through turning back toward the path when he'd spotted a few apples still clinging to the branches of a large tree. His stomach loudly punctuated the thought that he could murder a decent steak and he awkwardly pulled himself up and fumbled to knock a few loose. 

Favouring his sore ankle as he jumped back down and almost falling over as his sword caught between his legs, Jack collected his prizes, holding them between his arm and his body before heading back the way he'd come. They were a touch overripe, and a little bruised and battered, but they were better than nothing.

His stomach was grumbling loudly as he finally found Karrena a short way along the rabbit path they'd been following earlier.

Walking sheepishly up to her he held out one of the apples he'd scavenged. "Sorry," he mumbled.

Still scowling at him, Karrena took the peace offering and muttered a quiet 'Thanks' back.

Falling into step together again, they started off, this time following the path that was gradually becoming more defined before them. The slight broadening and lack of over-grown vegetation suggested that the path was used semi regularly by people, and Jack guessed that it would eventually take them to a village or town.

As it began to warm up, Karrena paused to take her heavy robe off, bundling it up with the rest of her things. Seeing that she was struggling to hump the large package along under one arm, Jack stopped for a moment.

Karrena didn't look happy about it, but she relinquished her package without comment, watching in growing curiosity as he put it down and began to take everything out. Laying the heavy cloak out, he began to sort through her things, putting the deer-hide water flask and holstered knife to one side and neatly folding her unusual wooden box inside the few items of clothing she'd brought. Curious though he was about the padlocked box, he didn't comment on it, just made sure that it was securely wrapped and protected in her clothes, sensing that whatever it was it was important enough that it was one of the few things she'd both brought with her on the trip and had stopped to pick up.

Folding the sides of the robe in and then rolling the belongings up tightly with the sleeves kept out, he hooked the hood around the now neat bundle, relying on the pressure of the taut material to hold the hood wrapped tight for now.

Picking it up, he gestured for Karrena to come and stand by him. She hesitated and he rolled his eyes. "Oh for crying out loud, I'm not going to infect you with my unnaturalness." Still, she paused and he clenched his teeth for a second, stopping himself from losing his temper yet again. "Look, whatever you're afraid I'm going to do, I'm not going to. I just want to make things a little easier for you."

Bristling at the suggestion that she would be afraid of anything, she finally stepped up to him, staring defiantly at him.

Shaking his head minutely, he took the bundle and reached around behind her. Settling the pack so that the only loose end was resting against her back, the weight keeping it shut now, he looped the sleeves around her; one over her shoulder, one under the opposite arm. Tying the sleeves together in front of her, he stepped back and gave her an 'I told you so' look before stooping to pick up the flask and knife, handing them to her and suggesting that she hook them through the sleeves somehow so that they were within easy reach.

In the back of his mind, he knew that he shouldn't be so confrontational about it, but her sudden distrust of him just because she'd found out that he was cloned was grating on him. Just the day before, she'd been putting up with his bad tempered snarkyness in a way that very few people had ever managed; most recently that had been his team. Since then, he'd been going out of his way to be amiable, likable, and to fit in, and it had felt good to just once be able to go back to the way things had used to be, or at least something approximating that.

They carried on walking in silence, and Jack noted to himself that they had turned in a more northerly direction.

After a few hours more, the path they'd been following had disappeared, so they'd carried on north-east again before finding another, slightly larger path that would have allowed them to walk abreast, if they'd chosen to.

The all to familiar ache of muscles that had been restricted to only one pattern of movement for longer than they cared for began to make itself known to Jack and, judging from the permanent scowl that had affixed itself to Karrena's face, he guessed that she was beginning to long for soft seats and a nice meal. The sun was almost at its zenith now, and in his heavy leather and mail, Jack was sweating buckets, his throat feeling like it was lined with sandpaper and his head pounding.

Veering off the path into a shady, grass-covered clearing, Jack decided immediately that he was going to shed some of his gear for a while.

He gestured to the soft-looking grass. "Gonna rest for a few hours; wait until it cools down a little. I'd suggest you get some sleep."

Slinging his belt, sword, and mail, he left a knife in his right boot and the sword in easy reach before stretching languidly and taking the time to stretch out the muscles of his legs.

He sensed Karrena watching him as she slid her pack off and grabbed the flask of water, taking a few short sips from it. It made him uncomfortable, but he knew there was nothing more he could do but ignore it. He was too tired to start an argument, and the feeling of the cool breeze drying the sweat that covered him after several hours of wet, stuffy heat was too nice to spoil.

"Do you want some water?" Jack glanced up in surprise as she spoke to him. She had said nothing for hours and the sound of anyone's voice was suddenly unexpected.

He nodded, knowing that the sound of his own voice would sound equally incongruous. Taking the proffered flask, he slowly took several short sips, satisfying his thirst but not taking too much of the water; who knew when they would come across more.

He handed it back to her with a slight smile. "Thanks."

She nodded, opening her mouth as if to speak but then closing it again.

"What?" Jack asked, slightly warily but Karrena just shook her head and turned away. Shrugging dismissively, Jack quickly settled himself on what looked to be a soft piece of ground and allowed himself to rest, hoping that he was tired enough for nightmares not to bother him now.

* * *

Opening her eyes to the more diffuse light of the afternoon, Karrena wondered what it was that had woken her. Glancing over at Jack, she saw that he was lying on his back, closed eyes moving rapidly in an intense dream. 

Glancing around but seeing nothing out of the ordinary, she decided that it was only the pressure of her bladder that had awoken her. Glancing indecisively at her belongings before leaving and heading away for a little privacy.

As she began her return to the clearing, she caught a flicker of movement ahead of her and frowned, wondering if Jack had followed her. Heading onwards again, this time more cautiously she headed for another clearing that she'd passed through on her way out.

Rounding a particularly large tree at the edge of the clearing, Karrena felt as if her heart had stopped. Sitting in the middle of the clearing was an enormous tawny lion.

"Aslan," she breathed, feeling drawn forwards until she stood before him.

"Welcome, child," He said in greeting.

Karrena was lost for words, consumed with both joy and fear at seeing Aslan himself.

"You need not be afraid," He continued, sensing her fear. "I do not judge people by what those in their past have done."

Karrena looked away, ashamed of what he knew. Without realising it, she had glanced towards the clearing where Jack lay, and by some coincidence, she could see him through the trees, now twitching violently in his sleep, thrashing about.

She frowned, and the Great lion rose on silent paws and followed her gaze. He seemed again to sense what she was thinking. "You have nothing to fear," He reiterated, this comment this time obviously about Jack.

An indecipherable look crossed her face, and she turned back to Aslan. "Is…is what he said true? Was he really created…" she paused, unable to remember the term Jack had used.

"It is."

This time the abhorrence on her face was unmistakeable, but it was quickly replaced with fear when a deep rumbling growl broke from Aslan's throat, sending her reeling backwards.

"_All_ _life is sacred!" _He practically roared at her. "Though similar to that of General Jack O'Neill, his soul is unique; a soul is not a thing that can be cloned. His soul is his own, as is his identity." The Lion let out a massive sigh. "He would do well to accept that himself."

Still reeling from his original admonishment, Karrena barely took in the last part of what he said, turning the information over in her mind. When she finally looked up and met His eyes, she saw an unimaginable sadness there.

"You must trust him. He stays by your side now because he cannot leave an innocent person, whatever betrayal he suffered at their hands."

Before Karrena could say anything more, Alsan bent down and gave her a rasping kiss on the forehead, his presence comforting her. "Rest now, child. You will need your strength."

Immediately she began to feel incredibly sleepy, and before she knew it, she was sitting bolt upright in the clearing, wondering again what had woken her, and if her conversation with Alsan had been a dream. Seeing the giant pawprint that even now was fading as the grass sprung up again, she knew it was not.

She was interrupted again as a cry rent the air, telling her what had woken her up again.

Thrashing around on the grass, Jack was obviously in the throes of a nightmare. She edged closer to him, wondering if she should wake him.

"I DON'T KNOW, DAMMIT! HE DIDN'T SHARE IT WITH ME-ARRRGHHH!"

Closing in on him and seeing that his thrashing had reopened the cut on his head, Karrena decided that she had to wake him up.

"Jack!" she called, reaching out to grab him by the shoulder.

His eyes flashed open, and he pushed her violently away before recognition kicked in. At a flash he was at her side, apologising profusely as blood trickled down his face. The cut was bleeding in only the way that head wounds can and he wiped at it distractedly, not really seeming to realise what it was.

"Oh, god, I'm sorry. I was…I didn't…Are you alright?"

Karrena nodded, a little shocked by what had happened. "It's fine. You were having a nightmare, and I woke you. It's my fault."

"No, it's not, it's that bastard snake-head Ba'als fault." He slumped backwards and sat on the ground to give Karrena room to pick herself off of the floor.

"You're bleeding," she told him, pulling a handkerchief out of a pocket and folding it before holding it to his head. Although the sight of the many dead people had made her sick, she wasn't unaccustomed to the sight of blood. She'd helped fix up young adventurers more than enough times and had gutted more animals than she could remember, but the fact that it was people; humans and talking beasts that were dead was just so much worse.

Jack gave her a strange look. "At the risk of pissing you off…why the sudden turnaround?"

Frowning over the phrase 'pissing you off,' Karrena shrugged. "I saw Aslan," she explained.

"Ookay…" Jack was frowning again, and she couldn't tell if it was because he didn't understand or because he was angry.

"He reminded me that all life is sacred." She paused for a moment. "I'm sorry."

Jack scrutinised her for a moment in a way that made her feel slightly uncomfortable, but then he nodded, his acceptance given in his eyes.

Taking the handkerchief from her hands and holding it in place himself, he glanced at his wrist. "Must be about four P.M. by now. We'd best get moving before we lose the light completely."

Karrena nodded, accepting the command and beginning to gather her things again, tying her pack on herself this time and offering Jack a little water before she tucked it away for ease of carrying, following Jack with more confidence this time.

* * *

So? Let me know what you think of the Aslan part, please, because he's really hard to write so I'm not certain i've got it right. Danke very muchly:D 


	7. Encounters

Hey all! Thanks again for all the reviews...once again sorry for the delay! (technically this shouldn't exist because I should have been revising...) Just to warn you; updates for a while might be sparse because of exams, holiday, and my sister's wedding. I'll do my best, though.

Many millions of thanks to Binksbabe for avoiding her essay to beta this for me:D Enjoy.

* * *

Several hours of easy, steady walking later, Jack realised with a start that night had fallen and he had adjusted to the change in conditions without batting an eyelid.

Glancing skyward, he squinted to see through a gap in the trees, deciding that the large, black storm clouds that had appeared had caused the rapid change from light to dark.

Looking back down and stretching his shoulders as he fought off a yawn, he glanced at Karrena and opened his mouth to suggest that they find somewhere to settle for the night. Before he could fully form the words, however, the soul-wrenching sound of a horse's scream rent the air, making both their hearts begin to pound.

Heart sinking, Jack strained his ears for any sound to direct him, quickly deciding on a rough bearing and speeding off, leaving Karrena to trail fearfully after him.

He seemed to be powering through the trees for hours, his mind constantly churning up images of the battlefield from the day before, the stinging scent of smoke soon reaching his nostrils. The memories of experiences detected the smell of burning flesh within the aroma, and he felt anger bubble up from within him.

After a while, the cries of children and adults alike could be heard, and though he knew that they wouldn't reach them in time to fight back, there was no way that Jack could walk on by without seeing if there was anything that he could possibly do.

When they reached the village, it materialised as if miraculously appearing out of the gloomy, smoke-filled night, and the faint shadows of shapes moved at the periphery.

The figures tensed when they saw Jack, and he threw his hands up in the air in the universal gesture for surrender, abruptly halting most of his forward momentum.

Karrena crashed suddenly into his back, breathing heavily from the sudden rush through the woods.

"Who goes there?" The gruff voice of an old farmer barked the question at them in trepidation, a rough short sword held tightly in his hands, the tip raised before him.

"Hey, we're here to help. We, uh, heard…" He didn't need to finish the sentence; everyone knew that he was referring to the scream of a dying horse. "We came to help, if you'll let us."

The indistinct figure of the farmer relaxed slightly and lowered his sword, though he still held it ready. "Come closer," he instructed.

Jack complied, instinctively grabbing Karrena's hand and keeping her behind him, where he could protect her easiest. As he stepped into the light thrown by both the bonfire and the burning houses, the farmer visibly relaxed, to Jack's consternation.

"Aren't you a little young to be carrying a sword around?" he remarked, eyebrow raised.

Jack bristled, understanding now why the farmer had relaxed so visibly. After all, who'd think that a teenaged boy in this scrawny, half-grown body could possibly offer a threat?

"Aren't you a little old?" Jack regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth and inwardly cursed his teenaged temper.

The farmer's only reaction was a noncommittal grunt as he turned abruptly away, "There has been much damage and death. What are your skills?"

Following after and pulling Karrena with him, Jack swore to himself that he'd start to display the patience and calm displayed by the farmer and which he had once possessed (when he chose to).

"I can do anything that needs to be done," he told him and glanced at Karrena, seeing the dark circles under her eyes, and brows furrowed against the ache of stressed muscles. "Karrena needs to do something relatively restful; we've been travelling most of the day-"

"I, too, can do whatever you require of me," Karrena corrected, glaring at Jack, and as if suddenly realising that he had been grasping it, she pulled her hand away, folding her arms across her chest and setting her chin in defiance.

Jack shrugged and rolled his eyes, secretly glad to see some of the fire back in Karrena's eyes.

The old farmer turned and glanced back as he walked, amusement showing on his face for a brief second before it was replaced by the pain of loss. "I am Fornan," he told them bluntly.

"Jack," he offered and, with a jerk of his head. "This is Karrena."

The farmer nodded before catching the attention of a worn and haggard woman as she rushed past. As she turned towards them, Jack could see that her soot-stained face was covered with tear tracks, both fresh and old.

"Mari, this is Karrena. She says she can do anything you ask of her."

Mari gave Karrena a watery smile. "Come child. There is much to be done."

Even as Karrena was lead off in one direction and he in another, Jack kept a watchful eye on her, always knowing where she was, some small part of his brain continuing to do it even when the rest of it was occupied with other details.

One quick glance around the remains of the village told him all that he needed to know, and Jack pulled Fornan up short.

"Look, you're going about this all backwards," he told him, knowing that it was the normal reaction of people in a crisis; take care of the living, then the dead. "You need to get the dead away from the living, get them cleaned up and buried way before you start trying to rebuild anything."

Fornan scowled at him. "What good is caring for the dead if the living have nowhere to live?" he demanded, vaguely, hardly registering what the 'boy' had said.

"What good is somewhere to live when you've all caught deadly diseases from the decaying corpses that surround you?" Jack countered harshly.

"Stop this nonsense, boy. There; you can go and help that work team over there."

"Oh for crying out loud. _Listen to me!_ Clean them up, bury them, whatever first. I'm sure you can all cope with a night or two under the stars rather than get sick and die yourself." Jack didn't know if it was the passion in his voice or the fact that he was nearly yelling that made Fornan and half of the men and women nearby look at him and actually listen to him, but he wasn't going to argue about it.

"The elderly, injured, and generally vulnerable can be housed in the buildings that are still standing," Jack offered, giving some semblance of compromise between their two points of view.

Fornan studied him for a long moment before nodding. "Wise words for a young boy," he commented, his eyes flickering to the obviously expensive clothes, armour, and weapons that Jack wore.

Shrugging his sudden discomfort off, Jack diverted the attention by starting in with the others on the unpleasant but necessary work.

* * *

Jack woke from his deep but all too short slumber with a start, suddenly wide awake in the way that usually signalled he'd been crept up on, or someone was about to attack.

Reaching instantly for his sword where it lay beside him, he glanced over to see that Karrena was still sound asleep a few feet away and that none of the other people who had bedded down in the shady little spot had stirred either.

Rising silently to his feet, he secured his sword to himself and placed his hand on the haft of his knife, ready to grab it if he needed.

They had been taking shifts to sleep to allow people to rest whilst the work to prepare and bury the dead continued at a fast pace. Fornan had insisted that Jack and Karrena be in the first set of people to rest, seeing clearly the signs of exhaustion in both of them.

Once again ignoring the returning aches that reminded him of the injuries he'd received and the abuse his body had suffered recently, he breezed to the corner of the building that shaded them and peered out. Seeing nothing unusual, he stepped out, affecting an air of tired restlessness (not a hard thing to do given his current state of mind) and, dragging his feet, began to walk over to where the majority of the work was going on.

Glancing at the sky, he recognised that it was mid afternoon, and that he'd slept longer than he'd thought. By the time he looked back down at the people gathered in the village square, he wished he'd stayed quietly asleep.

People had gathered around several carts loaded with supplies and necessities, many of them talking to the soldiers that accompanied them.

Fornan, who had become nominated head-man of the village by silent vote, was talking awkwardly but respectfully to a tall, ethereal figure that Jack recognised with a sinking feeling.

Dressed this time in simple, functional clothes, though they were no less well made, the Lady Sinere glanced up and saw Jack just as he was about to turn away, and so he resigned himself to having to face her, whatever that brought.

Walking stiffly up, he gave her a brief nod of the head. "Lady Sinere," he greeted her, his face neutral.

"I should have expected to find you here," she bit out in disgust.

Fornan frowned. "He has been a great help since he arrived, my lady."

Sinere gave Fornan a bitter smile. "I'm certain he has, Fornan. Tell me, did he arrive not long after the attack? Did he somehow know _exactly_ what needed to be done in this situation? Was he nothing but helpful, if a little coarse and rude?" Sinere was getting fully into the swing of things now, gesturing at Jack with sharp movements, which he didn't even flinch at. "Have you noticed how it is only ever the Talking Beasts who are killed - never a human life taken? This…._thing_ is an abomination created not of any scared union but by some nefarious demon bent on removing the talking beasts from Narnia forever!"

Jack's anger finally began to break through his control. "What _right_ do you have to call me an abomination just because you can't comprehend how I was 'born'! I have nothing to do with any of this, and you know it! You were with me during the attacks! Corrin was with me, for crying out loud!"

Sinere sneered at him, "Who knows what magic demons posses?"

"There's no such thing as magic! Magic is just tricks and mind games to amuse kids!"

"So you say! How is it then that you arrive at the scene of every attack only a short time after its conclusion?"

"It's a freaking _coincidence!_"

"Or is it the attempts of a murderous creature to gain the trust of unknowing people?"

Jack let out a frustrated, unintelligible cry before turning and stalking off again, realising with a sinking heart that both Sinere and most of Corrin's court had already decided his guilt in his absence.

"Guards!" Sinere's call for the guards was sharp. "Arrest that _thing!"_

Turning to face the two who had responded to the order, Jack shook his head at them. "Don't do this guys; I don't want to hurt you!"

The largest of the guards gave a short bark of a laugh and kept coming. Sighing, Jack settled himself into a ready stance and waited, analysing the movements of his would-be captors.

As the first guard reached him, Jack darted in past his outstretched arm and rammed the heel of his hand into his nose, hearing the sickening crunch as it broke. Reeling backwards, the guard's hands flew to his face, coming away covered in blood. He stared at it for a long moment, as if unable to believe that he'd been hurt.

He knew that there were a few ways that he could incapacitate a man in armour without killing him. The second guard would be more than a little wary, and therefore, quicker to react to any move against his face, one of the few unprotected areas on his body. Jack circled the second guard slowly.

Glancing at his injured friend, the guard paused on a second more before pulling his sword from its scabbard and holding it in front of him.

More than a little aware that he was wearing only his sword belt and none of the rest of his armour, Jack pulled his own sword. It had been a long time since he had actively used a sword, but he knew that he stood less chance of defending himself without it.

Without any warning, the larger man attacked, but Jack parried the testing strike easily. Within the space of a few short seconds, the guard struck again, several times in quick succession, all of which Jack deflected, though most of them came a little too close for comfort.

The next blow, however, found only air as Jack twisted away, spinning around and grasping his knife as he did so. The guard, stumbling forwards into the space where he had expected Jack to be but found no resistance, left himself open and slumped forwards like a dead weight as the pommel of Jack's knife connected solidly with the back of his head.

Glancing up and seeing that the remaining guards were approaching warily, Jack glanced once at the guard with the broken nose. Yelling a vague "I warned you!" over his shoulder, he ran into the woods, knowing that he wouldn't last long against a large group of people.

He thought briefly of Karrena still sleeping in the shade but decided almost instantly that she would be better off without the company of a 'demonic' fugitive.

He could hear cries rising behind him and he realised with a curse that he'd managed to run off this time with even less than he had the first time, but there was little he could do about it.

* * *

Feedback is almost as good as food!


	8. Manipulation

Hey everyone! Sorry about the day; somewhere between holidays, weddings, and my muse going walkabouts this chapter stalled about halfway!

Thank you for all the reviews; you guys really are wonderful:D Telumiel – that's a very good point you made about Aslan and not something I'd consciously thought about till you pointed it out so thank you:D I'm glad you're all still enjoying it!

Again; the characterisation of Aslan is what I consider the weakest point in this, so please give constructive ciriticism on either that, or anything else!

Many thanks to Binksbabe, who I only realised after I'd posted the last chapter had changed her name to Vinnet ages ago(…whoops) for betaing for me.

* * *

Jack could hear the sound of pursuit behind him as he pulled a 'Kimble' and turned fugitive but, due to the fact that he'd taken a large part of his cumbersome mail off to sleep, as well as being younger and more nimble than his pursuers, the sounds were becoming increasingly distant. 

When he could no longer hear anything behind him, he slowed to a fast walk. Breathing heavily, he seethed silently, his senses straining to hear sounds of pursuit behind him.

Hearing a noise behind him, Jack's head whipped round, ignoring the pain that tried to convince him his brain had just rebounded off of the inside of his skull. Seeing nothing and decided that he was imagining it in his over-tense state, he turned back forwards just in time to see the rough shape of a person as he walked full-tilt into what, seconds later, he discovered to be a _definitely_ female person.

"Oh, god, I'm sorry!" he gushed as he tried to untangle his sword from his legs so that he could stand. "I should've been looking- _Karrena!_"

"Jack!"

"You're…here…" Jack stared at her in complete confusion, automatically grabbing her by the hand to help her up.

"Yes. As are you."

"Well yeah, but… I ran--uh, executed a tactical retreat. You were asleep."

Karrena's face darkened. "I awoke as you left." She didn't look at him, instead making a point of shifting the large pack she had with her so that it lay more comfortably on her shoulders.

"Oookay… So…how did we manage to completely by accident walk right into each other? Again?"

"Luck?"

"No…there's something hinky going on here." Immediately he was looking around, searching his surroundings with the knowledge that he would only recognise what he was looking for when he saw it.

"Hinky?"

"Weird, warped, messed up, not quite right…" His Teal'c-response reflex kicked in automatically.

"What is there that is right about the attacks?"

"No, it's something more than that. Someone up there is playing a game with us, manipulating us." As he voiced the idea, his convictions became immediately solid; it was one of those things that if nothing made you stop and think for a second, you could have remained oblivious to, like when someone points something out and then afterwards you can't help but notice it all the time.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean…how is it that we can walk for so long and not see any signs of life and then just _happen_ to walk in on a village that's just been attacked? I got a good look at a couple of maps, and all the time we were walking on a straight bearing yesterday, we managed to end up walking around several other settlements to end up at a place several miles south of where we should have been. I mean, what are the chances that having left separately, we'd both end up literally running into each other? And on top of that it just…_feels_ wrong."

Jack finally returned his gaze from an inconclusive scan of the area to see that Karrena's brows had knit into a contemplative frown.

Narrowing his eyes sharply at her as he recognised the 'I-think-I-have-an-idea-about-this-but-it's-a-bit-far-fetched' look that had so often flittered across Carter and Daniel's faces. "What?" he barked.

She shook her head in reply and Jack rolled his eyes. "Come on; I know that look. Spit it out."

"It's Aslan," she said simply.

Jack frowned, his anger bubbling up again. "As in big golden lion, appears every now and then and then disappears for a few hundred years?"

"Yes."

"And he'd do this why?" Jack bit out caustically. Even just the implication that he was being so easily manipulated grated against every nerve in his body

Karrena shrugged. "Because you were brought here for a reason"

Jack snorted, "Riiight…and I'm supposed to what? Be scapegoat for some nut job with an army and a problem with the talking beats?"

"No, to find the truth and stop this from continuing." Her initial reluctance to reveal the idea had completely disappeared now and her retorts came with a heat and conviction that rivalled Jack's anger and scepticism.

"Right, because I'm the chosen one, here to fight crime, save the world, and make witty and humorous remarks."

Refusing to be put off by references she didn't understand, Karrena ploughed right ahead, annoyed at Jack's cynicism. "Yes! The children of your world have always come to Narnia in its time of need and you have always returned our world to light!"

"Minor problem there - _I'M NOT A CHILD!_"

Karrena was suddenly taken aback not only by the venom in Jack's voice but also by the sudden realisation that they stood only inches apart. She narrowed her eyes at him, recognising the invasion of her personal space as an intimation technique. "Your soul may not be, but your body is." She paused for a moment to let the comment sink in. "Aslan would not have brought you here without reason."

Jack let out a frustrated growl and whirled suddenly away from her, opening his arms wide to the woods around them. "Here I am! Tell me what I'm supposed to do, your almightily powerful-ness! COMMAND ME!" The final two words were yelled hoarsely into the air with a hoarse frustration that made Karrena shiver and left Jack's throat sore.

"I command no-one."

Jack spun immediately back around towards Karrena and the deep, mellow voice that he'd heard, his still tender ankle sending him a reproving twinge of pain.

Seated beside an awed Karrena was an enormous lion, whose tawny fur seemed to glow golden. Jack didn't doubt that hidden away in the massive paws were claws that could rip a person apart with barely an effort.

Jack's eyes flickered to Karrena, regretting leaving her open to whatever kind of pseudo-god had appeared in his moment of inattention. "The Almighty Aslan, I presume."

"I am Aslan," he stated, the tone of his voice indicating distaste at the prefix 'almighty'.

"Tell me, he-who-commands-no-one, when was I given the choice about coming to this particular shade of hell?"

A faint growl sounded like distant thunder that left the two humans wondering if they'd heard anything at all. "Narnia itself called to you, and you answered."

"The hell I did! I walked through a door in school and ended up being transported to god knows where."

"You know where. You are in Narnia."

"Oh come on; there are thousands of planets. 'Narnia' means nothing. I don't know how you avoided the Asgard or the Goa'uld with all this tech but I'm not going to fall for any of this religious crap!"

"In this world, magic is more real than science."

"Or _maybe_ you've just tricked them all into believing that it's magic when its really technology." Jack had moved closer to Aslan as he let lose with his disbelieving diatribe and was now standing within a few feet of both him, and Karrena. He found a release for his anger through biting sarcasm, his need to ensure Karrena's safety warring with his desire to expose the perceived deception. "I've seen it before and if you were really all powerful, then you'd know that!"

Aslan nodded his large head solemnly, though there was a slight twinkle of amusement in his eyes. "And yet, you feel more like yourself here, now, than you have at all in the past year."

Jack stared at the lion, his face suddenly falling into a completely neutral expression.

"You believed that the only way to continue was to immerse yourself completely in the modern culture and do everything that you could to fit in."

"Stop." Although Jack's face was expressionless, his dark eyes held a trace of menacing fury that hinted at the warrior he had once been. "I've had enough of your sick little mind games; send me home." The tone of command sounded out of place coming from his small, adolescent body.

Aslan shook his head sadly. "The magic that called you to Narnia will allow for your return only when your purpose here has been fulfilled.

"Would you cut the crap already?" he retorted explosively, making Karrena flinch. "I know it's just clever technology; I've seen the same trick used all over the galaxy!"

Aslan gave an amused snort. "After all you have seen, heard, and experienced you remain so closed-minded on this?"

"What I've seen, heard, and experienced can be explained by science and…people _way_ smarter than I am!"

Jack felt oddly vulnerable as the great lion stared silently at him for a long moment before simply turning and regarding Karrena with eyes both questioning and accusing.

Karrena's eyes widened and fear touched them as she took a step away. "No," she gasped. "I…I can't…"

"You must, child." Aslan continued to stare at her for several long moments and Jack had the distinct feeling that something passed between them; something both important and personal.

Eventually Karrena cast her gaze downwards, and Aslan returned his attention to Jack for a moment. Giving a sharp nod as if his task had been fulfilled he turned with an astounding agility and disappeared into the darkening trees soundlessly.

Frowning, Jack realised that they'd been in one place for what must have been hours, although it seemed like only ten or fifteen minutes. Darkness had all but fallen, exacerbated by immense and foreboding storm clouds. It was nothing short of a miracle that his pursuers hadn't already stumbled upon them.

Acutely aware of the threat of Sinere's guards as well as the danger of being exposed when the storm hit, Jack lurched into action, his muscles having once again stiffened in the chill air.

Grabbing hold of Karrena's hand and scooping up her pack, he was surprised to realise that she offered no resistance and a quick glance at her pale face showed that her thoughts were miles away, consumed by some internal debate. Sighing and shaking his head, he pulled her onwards at a fast, but sustainable pace, pausing only to wrap one of the extra cloaks she'd grabbed around himself.

His sense of time slipped away from him as he shuffled onwards, increasingly wearied from several days' exertion and a lack of rest.

When the first fat drops of rain began to fall, accompanied by a distant roll of thunder, he knew that he had to find some sort of shelter, and soon. A short while later, by some sort of bizarre coincidence, they happened upon an empty, dry cave with a cold and empty hearth marked at the mouth and a generous store of dry firewood towards the back of it.

As he pushed Karrena in ahead of him, she seemed to take notice of her surroundings for the first time since Aslan had disappeared, and she gave a short laugh. "A storm cave…" she looked at Jack. "How did you find it?"

"Dumb luck," he replied shortly, handing her the bundle of her pack and trying to decide whether he should be pissed at their manipulator or not.

Karrena took it and frowned, obediently retreating to sit out of the way when Jack snapped irritably at her for trying to help with the fire. Despite feelings slightly hurt at the rejection, she knew that it was because he was feeling angry at his perceived manipulation rather than because she had done anything wrong.

That and the fact that, like her, he was soaked through and shivering.

Once he had the fire well built up and was starting to feel the flames warming his benumbed fingers, Jack turned to beckon Karrena forwards to warm herself and found that she set out a ration of her food for him.

Already digging hungrily into her own food, she silently shuffled forwards, her expression turned towards thoughtful once again, eyes fixed on the leaping flames, lost in her thoughts and heedless of the time that passed.

"Penny for 'em?"

Jack's voice was suddenly loud to Karrena, who had tuned out the extraneous noise of the incessant pattering of the rain and the unpredictable crackle of the fire.

"Pardon?"

"I said penny for your thoughts," he repeated, belatedly remembering that he wasn't on earth. "It's an expression; means what're you thinking?"

Karrena nodded her comprehension but didn't say anything, reverting to staring sightlessly at the fire.

Jack gave a small growl of frustration and, turning his back to her, he stretched himself out by the fire, wrapped his still damp cloak around himself and attempted to drift off to sleep in a sulk.

He wasn't sure whether or not he'd managed to doze awhile before her tentative voice reached his ears, but the rain had eased slightly and it felt as if a fair amount of time had passed.

Sitting up to look at her, he noted that her face matched her tone; slightly pained and fearful, her words were haltingly spoken.

"I gained from my mother certain skills that I used for play when I was young but was later forbidden from using, as my mother once was, and most of the women of my mother's line were, for fear of what might happen." She paused and took a deep breath before continuing. "Although a few at Cair Paravel knew about this because they spent time with me when I was young and didn't always heed the warnings of my superiors, even they never knew how this power came to me." She gave a slightly hysterical laugh. "I had thought I was the last person left alive to carry this power in my blood, but it would seem that there is another, who has embraced their heritage fully" Again she paused, as if struggling with the decision she had made and, although she was no longer staring at the fire she was deliberately _not_ looking at, or near Jack.

Letting the silence stretch on, Jack observed her, waiting for her to continue.

"Our heritage, our magic, comes from the white witch herself."

Karrena made the statement so tremulously and visibly braced herself for who-knew-what and all Jack could do was raise an eyebrow questioningly at Karrena's hunched form.

"…so?" he replied at length and Karrena finally looked up at him slightly disbelievingly.

"You know of the White Witch, who enslaved Narnia-"

"-In an endless winter, yadda, yadda. What's that got to do with you? Except that you can do the magic thing?" Jack resisted the urge to say '_alleged_ magic'. He had an inkling now of what Karrena was so afraid of.

"She was Evil," Karrena stated.

"And? So? Therefore? Your point being?" he bit back, a little more harshly and sarcastically than he intended.

"Her blood and her magic are in my veins."

"Oh come on, that means diddly squat; you can't _inherit_ evil. Evil is either self-taught or learnt from the people around you." He decided it would be wise not to get into the whole inheritance-of-evil-through-genetic-memory-a-la-Goa'uld thing just then.

"How can I be sure that the magic itself won't corrupt me? There have never been any tales of the deeds of good witches."

He shrugged, unable to honestly answer that question. "What if it doesn't, you don't use this….skill, and more innocent people, and talking beasts, and…Naiads, and…everything dies because you didn't have a little faith in yourself?"

Still sceptical about magic, Jack had come to the conclusion that she must have something in her blood that allowed her to operate technology that seemed like magic, rather like the Goa'uld and Tok'Ra use of hand devices,

The frown lines on Karrena's forehead deepened and she let out an exasperated sigh, "I suppose that Aslan would not lead me astray on this subject."

The noncommittal grunt that issued automatically from Jack made Karrena turn her frown on him. "You still do not believe in Aslan?"

"I come from a place where these little snake-like parasites pretending to be gods in order to enslave humans…" he pointed out, refusing to admit that the knowledge that Aslan had of him personally had unnerved him a little.

Nodding, Karrena hesitated only a moment before riffling through her few possessions for a moment before pulling a small key on a chain from around her neck and unfastening the small wooden box she'd carried so far. Opening it slowly, she pulled out what looked like a carefully and meticulously preserved sliver of dark wood, carved to form a minuscule lion, on a chain.

Karrena offered no explanation for it as she held it in one trembling hand and with the other grasped a small, sour green apple that they'd collected along the way.

Concentrating hard and gripping the wooden lion tightly the green apple that lay on the palm of her flat, open hand began to slowly grow and change colour until she was instead holding a large, rosy red apple.

Hesitating for a second, she took a small bite of it, testing it before she handed the fruit to Jack with an encouraging nod. Taking an equally tentative bite, his eyes wide with disbelief, Jack found that, although not the best fruit he'd ever tasted it was a vast improvement on its previous incarnation.

"What…how…what?"

"Now do you believe in magic, Jack?"

He continued to stare dumbly at the fruit, trying to comprehend what had just happened. No technology that he knew of could change the molecular structure of something living in that precise way and the fact that there was no visible technology around - unless it was contained in that small lion necklace - made the use of technology unlikely. However, years of devout scepticism on the matter were hard to overcome in just those few moments but he was, nonetheless, willing to entertain the possibility.

The implications of what this meant for everything that had occurred since he had arrived in Narnia were also of huge import. So, in typical Jack O'Neill style, he blocked them from his thoughts entirely and grinned at Karrena instead. "Sweet!" he exclaimed.

Karrena gave him a brief smile in return, "Not as sweet as those from the orchard at Cair Paravel but definitely an improvement."

Jack's grin widened a little at her misunderstanding, but he let it pass, thinking fleetingly and wistfully of Teal'c's many faux pas.

Noting both his own sudden tiredness and the drooping of Karrena's eyes, he banked the fire to last through the night and gathered the various dry and almost-dry cloaks together, preparing to lie down and sleep at Karrena's back.

Noting the strange and slightly worried look that she gave him as he did this, Jack rolled his eyes. "If we sleep next to each other, then we'll stay warmer." He stated, refusing to accept anything different for his own warmth as much as Karrena's; he would only be slightly less warm than Karrena, who would have him at her back, and the fire at her front.

Settling down with his back to Karrena's, he was oblivious to the fact that the strange look she had given him had more to do with her belief that he would never want to touch her again now that he knew she was descended from the White Witch than with the fact that he was male and therefore obviously had ulterior motives. Within moments, they were both asleep, exhausted from several days' exertion and very little sleep, resting peacefully as the storm blew itself out.

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Thoughts, comments, criticisms, random kernels of wisdom……(Whippings for taking so long...)? 


	9. Contemplation

Hey guys. To start; I'm so sorry for not updating in forever. I started University in September (yay!) and have been so very busy. Coupled with the fact that I don't like this chapter very much and was trying to think of ways to improve it but couldn't… you know how it goes. I'm not going to promise to update regularly, but I will try to write when I can. I do get to write an original story as an essay for my science fiction module though, so that's likely to take the foreground. Sorry!

Secondly, thanks to Vinnet and Sheryl for helping me with this chapter. :)

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Jack wasn't entirely sure when he went from being deeply asleep and dreaming to being awake and thinking in endless circles but at some point he realised that he was awake and currently occupied in the over-active thinking of someone with a lot on his mind.

His usual tactic of ignoring things and hoping that they'd go away had failed him as his subconscious started to examine the last few years of his life before his conscious mind took over. Realisations and ideas that he'd been repressing ever since he became a clone suddenly surfaced, and he found himself unable to sink them again.

He'd gone from deep, almost suicidal depression over the death of his son to an acceptance of the facts of life to a lust for life and living with his new adopted family – his team - to having nothing but a scrawny undersized body and a determination to fit in.

Without the support and anchorage of his team – his family – he'd defended himself against the depression, despair, and loneliness by completely separating himself from everything that he had been, everything that had reminded him of what he'd lost. He'd thrown himself into school not academically but socially; whatever it had taken to fit in and be accepted. The latest fashions – no matter what the little voice in the back of his head said about the utter ridiculousness and impracticality of Velcro-fastened sneakers – the most popular music. He was a member of the high school football team, he wasn't the most popular or the best football player – he'd always been a hockey man before – but he was admired by half of the school; he never did assignments, he never paid attention…he didn't need to. He was on the football team, he'd pass either way. Mostly, anyway. Although there were some of the teachers who insisted he at least turn something in, and show up for the tests.

He had become a completely different person.

The turn that his thoughts had taken made him restless, and he pushed himself stiffly off the floor, careful not to wake Karrena, and glanced outside. Although it was clear and bright outside after the storm, the air had a definite chill to it and, seeing the puffs of white mist escaping both his and Karrena's mouths, he set about rebuilding the fire to warm them and continue to dry their clothes.

Karrena shifted a little when the warmth of his body left her but remained asleep, allowing Jack to continue his increasingly disconcerting musings as he stared at the leaping flames of the fire.

He thought about the people who were his friends at high school. Many of them made fun of the 'geeks' of the school; the Dannys and the Carters and especially the Felgers of the high school. As Colonel O'Neill, he'd prodded at and generally wound up his geeks, but he'd never done it maliciously, and recently – well, before he'd been cloned anyway - he'd stopped doing it much at all. Even when Felger touched him. Sure, when he'd first met Danny, he'd been a bit of a bastard, and when he'd first met Carter…but a lot of that was because they had an education that he could never understand.

Until now. Now he had an opportunity to go back and do that; he could learn those things that secretly interested him, and he was wasting it. He had occasionally wished that he'd taken a more academic route with his life, but when he thought of all of the people he'd saved through his battle training, he wasn't so sure. And now he had the perfect opportunity to go back and do both.

But he was wasting it on being popular and trying to forget the past.

He'd thrown himself so heavily into proving that he was a different person to his older incarnation that he really had forgotten about his team, his family, what was out there. And it wasn't even as if he was _The_ football jock; he'd been following the crowd like one of the mindless sheep that he'd always mocked.

Feeling restless and faintly disgusted with himself for who he'd become, he abruptly stood up and walked outside into the cold air, folding his arms across his chest and staring into space, wholly occupied with his thoughts.

He wasn't sure how long he'd been standing there thinking when he felt Karrena's tentative touch on his shoulder. "Jack? What are you doing out here? You're shivering!"

"What?" he looked at her and frowned. He hadn't even realised he was cold.

"Come and sit by the fire; you'll catch your death out there." Seeing the puffs of white from her mouth as she scolded him it finally registered in his brain, and he noticed that he was shivering, having left the warmth of the fire without a cloak or anything to keep him warm.

He could've sworn that it was the end of summer a few days ago.

Folding his arms across his chest and shoving his hands into his armpits, he quickly followed her back to the warmth of the fire. Almost immediately, he began to warm up, and he soon found a cloak being placed around his shoulders before Karrena sat herself down next to him.

"What were you doing out there?" she asked quietly, mimicking him by staring into the fire.

"Thinking."

"What about?" She pressed on with her questions, deciding that whatever he'd been thinking about must have been fairly monumental to have completely distracted him from feeling the cold. She was also glad for the distraction from her own worries and thoughts.

"Who I am."

She paused for a moment, hoping that he would carry on without being prompted. "So who are you?" she finally asked when he remained silent.

"Nobody. Nothing. A clone." His face remained completely impassive throughout the exchange.

Karrena frowned. "Obviously, you are someone; you are here, talking and breathing-"

Jack cut her off with a shake of his head. "I've been trying so hard to prove that I was different to my original – the man I was copied from – that I became nothing. Just a copy of everyone else instead…" He gave a wry laugh, " A dedicated follower of fashion."

Turning to look at Jack, her forehead wrinkled in confusion, Karrena asked; "Many people follow the fashions…I've seen it a lot in court at Cair Paravel. It is taking pride in your appearance."

Jack shook his head. "Taking pride in your appearance means wearing things that look good and are smart but are also things that you like, not just mindlessly following the trends and copying what everyone else wears because someone in a magazine said that it was cool."

"That makes no sense. Why would anyone want to wear the same clothes? People would laugh."

The corner of Jack's lips quirked in a slight smile. "That's the difference between Narnia and where I come from. The only way to be cool is to wear the same as the celebrities."

She paused, trying to puzzle out what Jack had said before giving in and asking, "What is a celebrity?"

"Oh…uh, someone who's famous for acting, or singing, or for being president or something… kind of like your courtiers."

Nodding slowly, she mulled this over for a few minutes. "And you were one of these people who followed them?"

She received a brief nod in reply.

"But how does this make you nobody?"

He continued to stare at the fire as he sighed and answered her. "I had no personal identity. I was just one of the crowd; people wouldn't remember me for who I was but for what group I was in."

"But what about your family? Surely to them you were someone."

_Family…_ Jack looked at her sharply, horror spreading across his face. _Oh God, Charlie!_

"Jack, are you well?" She cut in, a look of guilty alarm on her face. "I did not mean to upset you…"

"No-" He paused to clear is suddenly blocked throat. "It's not your fault. You just reminded me of someone is all. Someone important, who I'd forgotten about." His gaze had returned to the fire now and harsh lines of pain were evident in his face.

"Who?" The question slipped out of her mouth before she'd realised it, and she instantly wished she could take it back, that she wouldn't cause Jack pain.

Jack was silent for long enough that she didn't think he was going to answer her but, eventually, he spoke. "My son, Charlie."

Karrena frowned, a slight look of horror on her face. "You are not old enough to have a son." She stated bluntly.

He rolled his eyes at her, "I used to be."

Seeing her shake her head at him, he realised that, although she'd accepted what he was on a superficial level – at least as far as she understood the idea of a clone – deep down, she hadn't really grasped the weight of what had been done to him.

He turned to her and met her eyes. "Karrena, I used to be over 6 feet tall, I had a job, I was married, I had a son…" he faltered slightly. "I was nearly three times your age, for crying out loud! My son, Charlie died when he was a kid..." He couldn't bring himself to tell her how he died.

Karrena tore her eyes away from his. Although she had accepted that he had been created rather than born – after all, Aslan himself had no problem with that – she suddenly understood just what had been done to him; that he'd had everything stripped from him all at once. And she also understood that he was old enough to be her grandfather and some of the things that he had done made a lot more sense; inside that tiny little body was a seasoned warrior and a man who had lost everything.

She resisted the urge to edge away from him.

Meeting his eyes again, she said the only thing she could think to say; "I'm sorry."

He snorted, "Please, save the sympathy." He barked, seeing both pity and revulsion in her eyes. He looked away from her and returned to his dark musings.

Leaving Karrena to wonder about the man-child sat next to her.

* * *

It was only after a long, drawn out period of silence that Jack finally snapped out of it. "Geez," he finally exclaimed, suddenly rubbing his hands across his face as if doing so could rid him of all of the dark thoughts that had occupied him, determined not to fall into the bitter pattern of darkness that he always found so easily.

Not expecting the sudden noise and movement, Karrena jumped, her heart suddenly pounding in her chest.

Seeing this, Jack gave a bitter bark of a laugh. "Look at us! I just realised that I don't have a clue who I am anymore, and you're convinced you're going to be mobbed because some distant, far removed ancestor was the wicked witch of the west."

"It was the white witch-" Karrena began in a small voice but was interrupted by Jack.

"I know; it's a reference to an old film, uh… play where I come from."

"Oh."

"Yep." He paused for a moment, brow creased in concentration. "So what do we do?" he mumbled to himself.

"I do not know."

"What?" Jack looked at her in confusion for a second. "Oh, no I was talking to myself. First sign of insanity." He gave her a weak smile but she just looked slightly puzzled.

He contemplated the situation for a moment before deciding to return to what he knew; something that he knew was a part of him, clone or not. Assess the situation.

"Right. We know that someone is executing attacks against settlements in Narnia, and that the enemy seems to appear a short distance from their target as if from thin air."

Karrena stared at him for a moment as if he really had gone insane but quickly realised that he was listing what he knew so far. A small hope flared inside her, and she dared to entertain the idea that he was going to save Narnia from this newest evil.

Jack paused for a moment before grudgingly adding, "Which _seems_ to be by magic."

His sceptical comment made Karrena smile – few people who didn't believe in something would allow for the fact that others did.

"When they arrive, they take out any guards and observers, even when they're well hidden and protected, so they obviously seem to have some sort of inside information on these things.

"The only people who seem to be directly attacked are the Talking Beasts, the dwarfs, the tree-people, the fauns—the non-humans?—any humans who're injured or killed seem to be either defending the Talking Beasts or are caught by accident; someone is trying to get rid of all of the Talking Beasts."

A frown appeared on Karrena's face. "But why would anyone do that?"

Jack shrugged. "You said it yourself: there are people here who don't believe that Talking Beasts are people… was it the Calorie-men?"

She raised an eyebrow at his mangling of the name, "Calormen. But the Soldiers who attack are not from Calormen; they are all fair skinned like the people of Narnia."

Jack paused for a moment, his brow furrowing. "I dunno about that. People were saying some strange things…" He stopped again, unsure about whether or not he could really believe what he'd heard.

"…what kind of strange things?" Karrena asked nervously.

He looked at her for a second. _Hell,_ he finally thought. _If I'm going to believe in magic, why not believe in demonic creatures too!_ "They were saying that they'd seen other…things. Someone said they'd seen a 'minotaur' and 'the spirit of a poisonous plant' running with the attackers." He used air quotes to show his scepticism but the gesture was lost on Karrena, whose face paled instantly.

"The minotaur and the evil tree spirits have long been the friends of evil."

"Ookay… but why would they be any different to the talking beasts, or the good tree spirits or any other non-human."

Karrena frowned. "I do not know."

Jack sighed, guessing that the principles for evil were the same here as anywhere else. "So long as they're useful, they'll be kept around, I guess…" He didn't need to voice what would happen once they weren't useful.

A long silence followed, in which Jack turned over all of the information he'd picked up along the way and began to consider tactics and ways to beat the resident bad guy. Unsure of himself as he was now, there was one thing he knew for certain: he couldn't turn his back on this now, the same as he couldn't turn his back on the people of Abydos or the Tok'ra or the Kelownans or even his own people, regardless of how ungrateful and generally…_irksome_ the latter three were. And there was no way he was going to leave Karrena behind in all this.

"We need to figure out who's behind all of this."

Karrena looked sharply at him. "You are going to save Narnia?"

He threw her a slight grin. "Well I don't know about _that_ but…I'm definitely gonna go kick some bad-guy ass!"

The confused and lost expression appeared on Karrena's face within seconds, and Jack resisted the urge to smack his hand against his forehead. "I'm not going to actually kick a donkey…it means I'm going to go and fight as hard as I can." He improvised, not wanting to have to explain why kicking someone in the butt would be relevant.

She gave him a bemused smile – he hoped at what was, to her, his strange way of speaking – "Then I, too, will…'kick some ass'."

Jack grinned and resisted the urge to laugh. Somehow, in her very proper English-esque accent it didn't quite sound the same. At the same time, however, he was glad to see her behaving more like the confident, faintly mocking woman he'd met back at Cair Paravel.

"Anyway," he continued, "Whoever it is must be using magic to do it, right?" _Or something,_ he silently added.

Karrena nodded her agreement, a slight shadow crossing her face as if she had sensed what was about to come.

"Now, I don't know how this magic thing works, but is there any way that you can…sense this?" He resisted the urge to cringe. He'd either been watching Star Wars or Buffy the Vampire Slayer too much. He blamed Teal'c.

"I don't know," she told him, frowning and she pondered the question. "It's possible but…I've never tried anything like it before. Except…" She paused and a reminiscent smile lit her face "I did used to use my magic when playing when I was a child, before I knew it was wrong. We used to hide from each other and I'd always be able to find Corrin because he was the Prince, and he was so pure…" She snapped suddenly back to reality and flushed, the smile disappearing rapidly. "That was a long time ago, but it's possible that it could work, with a little practice."

Jack raised an eyebrow at her comments but didn't say anything about it. "Well, anything is better than nothing. At least then we'll have a destination to head towards, and once we know where they are then we will be able to form a plan of attack."

Paling slightly at the prospect of an attack somewhere in the near future, Karrena steeled herself and nodded faintly before correcting him. "I won't be able to tell you of the specific location; it's more like I'll be able to tell you which direction and whether we're close or not. It's not precise, and sometimes it doesn't work at all."

Shrugging it off, he gave her a half-grin. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

She nodded, for once understanding an analogy he'd used.

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Please tell me what it was about it that was just a bit blah…I can't figure it out myself:) 


	10. Tracking

You're no doubt all fed up of me apologising for taking so long now… Lets face it, I'm not the most frequent updater…although I do update. That's got to be a bonus, right?

Well, thanks to Vinnet for doing a fantastic job of betaing for me and thanks to all of the people who take the time to review – especially those honest reviews about the last chapter; I hope you've all had a great Christmas and New Year. Anyway it's nearing the end now and I've resolved to finish fics before I start uploading them now. Or at least mostly finish them. :D

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"Ready?" Jack asked, wrapping the cloak that Karrena had given him closer to try to block out the cold wind that had sprung up that morning.

She gave an uncertain nod and reached for the chain she had put around her neck as they had gathered their meagre belongings together that morning. Having replenished the stores of wood that they had used, they now stood outside the storm cave, and Karrena was preparing to test Jack's idea.

Taking a deep breath, she gripped the small carved lion until her knuckles turned white and closed her eyes. A frown of concentration that creased her forehead and the white puffs of steam that escaped her mouth were the only indications of life in her otherwise still body. To Jack it seemed like forever before she opened her eyes, a crestfallen look on her face; she shook her head minutely.

Jack flashed a grin, hoping it didn't look as false as it felt. "Okay. We'll start walking and you can try again later. We need to get moving and find some food anyway."

They walked for a few minutes before Karrena broke the silence. "How are we going to find food, Jack?"

He shrugged, "I was hoping you'd have an idea on that." When Karrena remained silent, he sighed. "I guess I can make a bow of some sort…I just wouldn't want to kill a talking rabbit or anything."

A small, amused sound came from Karrena, and he turned his head to look at her. "You'd have difficulty mistaking a talking rabbit for a dumb beast. They're much bigger, for a start."

"Well I didn't know that, did I?" Realising how petulant and childish his reply sounded, he took a deep breath, and instead of succumbing to the sudden hormonal surge, he began to scan the surrounding area for a young sapling that he could, literally, bend to his needs.

Several hours passed before he completed his make-shift bow, complete with a few arrows and turned his attention toward finding some prey to use them on. During that time, Karrena paused several times to see if she could sense anything with her magic. She was becoming increasingly disheartened; each failure convinced her just a little bit more that it was her fault that she could not sense anything, despite Jack's reassurances.

They met several people and talking animals as they walked, in sharp contrast to the complete isolation of the previous days, making Jack think that Aslan had stopped messing with their heads and that the heading he was bearing on was true this time.

They greeted each person that they met with a polite nod and a smile, and most of them answered in kind, but a few glanced suspiciously before scurrying on as fast as they could. One large bear, however, simply carried on as if he hadn't even noticed them, giving a huge yawn as he tried to keep heavy eyes open; the sudden change in the weather had caught all of the animals that hibernated unawares.

By the time evening fell and the two companions gave in to their aching muscles and decided to call it a night, Jack had caught a brace of rabbits and was looking forwards to a hot meal, despite the messy task of preparing them that lay in between. Karrena had fallen into a melancholic slump, her face slack with the barest trace of dark emotion showing in the crease between her eyebrows and the slight down-turning of her mouth.

The young clone had stopped trying to reassure her long ago, focussing instead on trying to find them a decent meal to lift their spirits and warm their bodies. They'd passed several small settlements along the way, but without any form of currency or something that could be traded for food or a room to stay in, they'd been forced to find a suitable spot near a small brook with a tight cluster of trees to shelter them from the bitter wind.

Easing himself to the floor beside the brook with a grimace at the pleasure-pain sensation of moving his muscles in a way that they were no longer used to after hours of constant walking, Jack pulled the rabbits toward him and began to skin and gut them whilst Karrena began to light a fire a short way away.

By the time the rabbits were roasting nicely over the small fire, the pair had fallen into a companionable silence, immersed in their thoughts.

Karrena held the small lion pendant in her hand, absently rubbing her thumb across the smooth wooden surface. When she'd given it to her, her mother had told her that it was carved from a sliver of wood from the tree that had sprouted from the apple that Digory had planted when Aslan first created the world. She'd scoffed at the idea, thinking it impossible that the wood could possibly have lasted that long, but it didn't seem such an impossibility now.

A slight movement at the top of her vision caught her attention, and she raised her eyes to watch a single reddish-brown leaf as it fluttered down from the tree. The sense of something being completely wrong rose suddenly in her from a depth where she had not been consciously aware that she had been feeling it; it was far too early for the leaves to be falling.

She realised with a start that she had not seen any of the dryads or hamadryads in days, and the sudden awareness that something had been missing came over her; the trees around them had given the barest of swishes as the wind rushed through them and the babbling of the brook had been dulled and muffled. Even as she turned her face upwards toward the tree that sheltered them, she thought that she heard the wood creak in a mournful, desperate way.

She tried to find any sign of the tall, slender and elegant creature that embodied the birch tree but found only a sort of dull, hollow wood that nonetheless seemed to weep. She looked harder, and it appeared to her that the whole of the tree had been bound and constricted by long, dark vines that smothered it, trapping the life within it and dooming it to a torturous, trapped existence.

Scrambling closer to the tree, pendant tightly closed in her left hand, she tried to pry the dark vine away with her right hand but found that it contacted only hard, dry wood.

Raising her left hand, she stared at it in disbelief for a moment, Jack's concerned voice registering only in her subconscious as she realised that what she was seeing was the result of the magic that she was performing.

Her mouth suddenly setting into a firm line of determination, she stared determinedly at the wood, falling into a state of such deep concentration that it worried Jack.

Trying to call out to her and get her to respond, Jack hesitated for several long moments before daring to touch her. He had no idea what kind of affect he would have on her, or her magic, let alone what it could possibly do to him. When her breathing became slightly ragged and the blood drained from her face, turning her a deathly shade of pale he was left with no choice other than to hope that the only result of his contact would be to break her concentration.

As soon as his slightly tentative hand touched the arm that rested against the bark of the tree Jack let out an involuntary gasp, although he didn't know whether it was at the sudden warm sensation that covered him uncomfortably or at the magical appearance of the web of dark creeper that had suddenly appeared all over the tree they were kneeling by.

A bare patch seemed to have appeared on the trunk of the tree, and he could hear a distant wailing. He nearly fell backwards in surprise when the bark of the tree seemed to suddenly morph into a strange, narrow, ethereal face and the sound of the wailing came suddenly closer.

"_No… you…cannot."_ It spoke in a voice that seemed to have both the soft qualities of – clichéd as it sounded – rustling leaves, but also with a strength borne of desperation. _"…the source!" _The few words that it seemed to be straining out were tortured and getting steadily weaker as the face seemed to fade back into the wood.

Karrena stared at the fading apparition for a few moments longer before snapping her head to the right, her eyes focussing on something distant. Jack turned and tried to see, but found only a few more trees. He turned back to his dark-haired companion to question her but managed instead to catch her as her eyes rolled back in her head.

Checking her pulse and finding it steady, if a little fast, he sighed and lifted her off of the ground. He was both surprised and annoyed to realise how difficult he found this task now, but when his knees nearly buckled after the first few steps, he realised that there was more to it than his under-developed muscles. Willing his legs to hold out, he staggered over to the fire and placed her gently down; he was glad to note that a little of the colour was beginning to return to her cheeks. Sitting back on his heels to catch his own breath, he found himself fighting to resist the urge to just lay down and go to sleep in the warmth of the fire.

He quickly came to the conclusion that whatever she had been doing, it had taken a lot of energy out of her and, he theorised, he had been used as a backup power source when he touched her. He tried to rouse her but found that she simply frowned, murmured a few indecipherable words, and swatted at him as if he were some irritating insect. He gave a snort of amusement, but the feeling didn't last as worry forced its way into his mind. He suspected that she was only sleeping, but he didn't know if it was a normal thing or not; either way, there was little that he could do out in the open on his own.

Shaking his head in both frustration and irritation at Karrena for letting herself get to that point, he pushed himself to move and quickly bundled her up in a few of the cloaks. He positioned her near the warmth of the fire before checking on the roasting rabbit and then settling down and monitoring the state of her health.

Checking the rabbit and decided that it was well-cooked, Jack forced his fatigued body to rise out of its seated position – it had taken a consummate effort from the clone not to fall asleep as he waited for the half-hour while the meat finished cooking – and walked over to Karrena.

He prodded her gently. "Hey, sleepyhead, time to wake up." She didn't respond beyond an irritated mumble, so Jack shook her gently; still no real response. Sighing, he felt her pulse again, despite knowing that she was perfectly fine; she was breathing deeply, on the verge of snoring. As he had expected, her heartbeat was strong, steady and slow; as a sleeping person's should be.

He shook her shoulders again, a little more roughly this time and then patted her cheek gently, calling her name with increasing worry.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, she blinked her eyes open and looked at him, confusion in her eyes.

"Welcome back to the land of the living," Jack commented, waiting for her brain to catch up. He could almost see the second when the gears ground back into action and the connections were made.

She frowned and glanced at the tree. "I…the…it…you…" She paused, and her eyes widened. "Cair Paravel!" she exclaimed, staring at Jack as if he should have understood perfectly.

Shaking his head, he raised his eyebrows. "I was with you until 'Cair Paravel'." He told her. "But before you explain, we're going to eat."

She opened her mouth to protest but was silenced by a look from Jack as he offered his hand in assistance.

Seated by the fire, they ate their meal in silence, savouring their richest meal for several days. That silence was eventually broken by Jack, his voice seeming loud in the unnatural silence.

"So, what was that about Cair Paravel?"

Blinking to bring herself back to the present, she let her eyes remained unfocussed, staring into the bushes. "That's where it's coming from."

"Where what's coming from?"

"The power?"

"…what power?"

"The power that is controlling the dryads and the naiads and all the other spirits."

"Well, what the hell does _that_ mean!"

His frustrated outburst made her jump, and she turned her head to look at him, seeming to realise then just how cryptic she had been.

"Whoever is leading these attacks is in Cair Paravel, or thereabouts."

"And they're not only targeting the talking beasts, they're getting at the tree-people too."

"The dryads. And the naiads and all other free spirits."

Glancing at him again, she caught his wry grin. "Looks like we're going back to Cair Paravel, then."

* * *

It had taken nearly two days for them to return to Cair Paravel, taking it slowly to allow their bodies to replenish their depleted energy reserves; he knew that whatever form the inevitable confrontation took, they would need to be as healthy and alert as they could manage.

Having pushed on and reached the castle in the small hours of the morning, Jack let Karrena lead the last part of the way, following her in through a back entrance that was little used by the staff or occupants. As they passed the kitchen, they quietly pilfered some fresh bread and a little cured ham to keep them going.

Following the stealthy figure of his companion quietly through hallways lit by the early morning light, Jack felt an odd sense of déjà vu as he realised that it had only been about a week since he had followed her through the same corridors because he'd stormed off in a huff and got lost.

They had just reached the main parts of the castle when they heard voices and slipped into one of the many disused rooms. Standing by the closed door, they listened for the people to pass.

The voices were muffled, but their words could be made out as they neared the door.

"…won't be a big wedding, because there's only been a week for the preparations."

"Aye, but it'll be better that way. Shows that Lady Sinere will make a good Queen; she's not fussed about making too much…"

The voices of what he guessed were two serving maids doing their morning chores. He glanced at Karrena, who had turned an interesting shade of grey. "It's safe now, we move on."

It was only a few short minutes more before they reached what had been Karrena's quarters; a room that she could lock. Quickly unlocking the door and slipping inside ahead of him, Karrena gave a quick check to make sure that everything was as she had left it. Confirming this, she turned and pulled Jack in after her before re-locking and bolting the door behind them.

Jack gave her a small smile as she deposited her pack on her bed, next to his. "There's no place like home."

"Of course. It'll be better once we get the fire lit and some hot-" She broke off as she caught sight of his face. "We cannot light a fire can we?"

"No, sorry. We can't take the risk that someone will notice; not when we know that whoever it is orchestrating this is an insider."

"The bed will still be better than the cold floor outside." She let out a long yawn to punctuate her comment. It had been a long time since they'd slept as Jack had insisted that they pushed on and entered the castle before daybreak.

"Exactly!" He failed to stifle his own yawn. "Okay, sleep now, try and find whoever it is while the rest of them are asleep."

"The old Beaver we met near the river did remark that the largest number of attacks happened at night; I may be able to pinpoint the source of the magic more easily if I can find them using it."

"That too. I was just thinking that then we can sneak around easier."

"Oh, of course."

Jack shook his head and shifted his pack to the floor beside the bed before beginning to remove his outer layers, carefully leaning his sword against a dresser beside the bed, within reach. His dagger was placed carefully atop this dresser, pommel towards the bed for the same reason. _Just in case._

In other circumstances, they may have found the idea of climbing into the same fairly small bed together at least a little odd, but their experiences together over the last week put things into an odd perspective that made it all seem perfectly normal. Despite the inherent differences between them and, particularly the alienation that had initially occurred when Karrena had realised just what Jack was – as well as the weirdness that Jack himself was still struggling to come to terms with – they had grown closer to each other. Part of that had been necessity; it had become colder on a daily basis, and they'd had to huddle together to share body heat so that they were warm enough to sleep.

So they didn't give it a second thought as they climbed into the bed together still wearing their clothes and pulled the quilt around them.

Jack was silent for only a moment after settling in. "You're in love with him, aren't you?"

He didn't need to open his eyes or turn to face her to know that she was staring at him in complete shock but she remained silent. He didn't need to say who he was talking about; they both knew it was Corrin.

He raised an eyebrow and looked at her. "Let me guess, you left the camp as soon as you found out that he was marrying another person?"

She looked away. "I couldn't-" She stopped, unable to articulate her feeling.

"You can cope fine right up until the point when they find someone else, and then you just seem to lose it completely."

A bitter laugh bubbled out of her as she nodded. "I over-reacted; ran away like a love-sick child."

"We can always see these things in hindsight." He gave her a small smile. "And anyway, the way things have been going lately, I wouldn't put it past Aslan to have given you a little nudge."

"Unlikely."

"Hey, you never know; after all he's not a _tame_ lion."

"You are incorrigible."

For the first time in a long time, his trademark half-grin returned in its full glory. "You say that like it's a bad thing."

She gave a sigh, partially amused but also very sad. "Go to sleep, Jack."

"Yes ma'am."

* * *

"Got anything yet?"

"No! And if you do not stop asking me every five minutes then I _will not_ find anything."

"Sorry, sorry. I just hate not doing anything." He stopped pacing just long enough to shoot her an apologetic look.

Sitting on the bed, Karrena closed her eyes and began to concentrate once again, and Jack continued to pace. It seemed like hours had passed before Karrena suddenly rose off of the bed and began to march out of the room, closely followed by Jack, who was silently hoping that they wouldn't meet anyone along the way.

Although she wasn't running, she was putting on a fair amount of speed and was moving with an unerring sureness of step, leading Jack onwards through the cold, dark corridors.

When she finally stopped in front of a door she seemed to break out of whatever trance shed been in, staring at the door silently.

"This it?" Jack asked, stopping beside her.

She shook her head. "It is not possible."

"But this is where your Jedi powers told you it's coming from?"

"The source is here but… impossible."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "I thought I was supposed to be the sceptic here."

"No, these…these are King Corrin's personal quarters."

"Oh."

* * *

Reviews make my day. :)


	11. Decisions

Hey everyone! I apologise for the delay… I won't give you the reasons as we'll be here forever. I have the rest planned, so it shouldn't be quite so long now.

A million and one thanks to Vinnet for Betaing for me :)

* * *

"Look, Karrena I know you don't want to believe it and maybe there's another explanation for it but we have to prepare ourselves for the fact that it _could_ be Corrin who's doing all of this."

After Karrena's magic had lead her to the door to the private quarters of the King Jack had needed to drag her away, all too aware of what would happen to them if they were caught loitering outside the King's door at that time of night. After all, Jack had been dubbed a traitor already.

"No, it cannot be. I have grown up with him, I- I know him as well as I know myself."

Jack sighed and resisted the urge to shake some sense into her. "Who else would be in Corrin's quarters at that time of night?"

She had no reply to that.

Walking over to her, he sat down beside her on the bed, slipping an arm around her shoulders, giving her a quick, comforting squeeze.

She shook her head. "I know that it sounds irrational but…I _know_ it's not him, Jack. I just…I can _feel_ it in my guts."

Now it was Jack's turn to shake his head as he let out a long sigh. "What am I getting myself into?" he muttered before turning Karrena's face towards him and regarding her steadily. "Alright, so it's not Corrin… who could it be?"

Karrena's face brightened ever so slightly at the realisation that Jack was going to trust her on this; was going to take her word for it. "It could be anyone; whoever it was definitely wanted us to think that it was King Corrin, though."

"Right. What we really need is someone who will actually listen to us and take us seriously, _and_ whom we can trust." He paused and stared off into space for a while before shrugging and turning back to her. "I've got nothing, you?"

She hesitated a moment and Jack raised an eyebrow, sensing her uncertainty. "What of the Centaurs? They have long been true friends of Narnia and always have they been loyal."

Jack's mind flashed to the brief conversation he'd had with Nightstar. '_Older than you appear, but younger than you look.'_ Silently, he debated it; he didn't know much about them but he knew that they were highly respected and honoured.

"They also have some understanding of magic; they read the skies." She hoped to convince him.

His gut told him to trust them but his head told him that they couldn't be sure.

He told his head to shut up and followed his gut. "Alright. We'd best head out soon, before everyone starts waking up."

Karrena smiled and let out a breath, and he couldn't resist the smile that pulled briefly at his lips. He just hoped that they weren't wrong in this, because if they were then it was entirely possibly that they were royally screwed. No pun intended.

"First, we need to…acquire some more suitable clothes." He looked up at her as her voice broke into his thoughts. She stood and moved to the door, "I will return shortly." She had slipped out of the door before he could stop her but, true to her word, she was back in no time at all, armed with a large pile of clothes.

Depositing her load on the bed, she silently began to separate it out into two piles, creating two practical, warm winter outfits.

Jack raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing?" The question was redundant; he'd already guessed that she was going to disguise herself as a man.

"If we are going to be travelling in daylight, then we should disguise ourselves. They will not be looking for two boys."

Eyebrow still raised, Jack leaned back a little and sent his eyes running from her head to her toes and back again. She shifted uncomfortably. "Karrena, there's no way in hell that you'd pass for a boy. You have too many…" he shaped the air with his hands. "…curves. Not outside of a tranny bar, anyway." The last sentence was murmured under his breath as he didn't feel up to the task of explaining why some men from his world like to pretend that they were women, and vice versa.

A mutinous look crossed her face, ever so briefly. "Well, what do you propose we do? They're going to be looking for a girl and a boy."

Earlier, Jack had been relieved to see the original, obstinate, confident and ever so slightly controversial (to the Narnians anyway) Karrena returning, but at this particular moment, all he could do was push away the sudden flash of irritation. "Well there's really not a lot we can-" He broke off as a wicked gleam entered her eye.

"If I cannot pass as a boy then _you_ will have to pass as a girl."

"Oh no! No no no no no _no!_" He tried to protest, but she was already moving toward the plain wardrobe that stood in one corner of her room. He tried desperately to come up with a reasonable excuse not to go along with her plan but soon realised that there was no reason beyond the fact that he just didn't want to do it. After all they were – a few curves and bulges aside – similar sizes. He let out a long groan as his shoulders slumped. Once again he keenly felt the loss of power that his de-aging had caused; he knew that Karrena would not overrule him on this based solely on his whiny protest that he didn't want to dress like a girl.

He was reluctantly reaching out for the green and brown everyday dress that she was holding out to him when inspiration struck. "Wait! My hair's not long enough for me to pass for a girl!"

His triumphant grin faded as Karrena rolled her eyes and pointed out that with the weather being this cold and windy most human women out of doors would be wearing shawls and hoods anyway.

Snatching the offending item from her hands as he shot her a scowl before - with a momentary pause to figure out the logistics of the strange garment - he changed his old outfit for his new.

Fifteen minutes later, the necessary items had been gathered together and wrapped into more conventional carry-packs (with the exception of Jack's shirt and trousers; the former of which was stuffed into the top of the dress to make him appear more womanly – from a distance at least – and the latter of which he had kept on, complaining that he would be cold otherwise).

Their disguises completed, the companion fugitives quietly snuck out of the castle and into the grey dawn light. They met no-one as they scurried through the corridors, and by the time they were out in the cold morning air, they felt safe enough to relax a little, their movements becoming less like a nervous scurrying and more like the easy strides of practiced travellers.

Despite being coerced into wearing a dress, Jack felt a lot better than he had for several days. Although the long skirt irritated him and made him feel like he was going to trip every step, he was a lot warmer than he'd been before and the long rest in the soft bed had done wonders for his weary body. The deep scratch on the side of his head had healed enough that it no longer hurt most of the time. It itched like anything, but he'd had a lot of practice at ignoring itchy, healing wounds. Above all else, he thought that the chance to have a quick scrub with cold water and a rough cloth had done wonders; there was nothing more annoying than a feeling of being sweat-sticky and grubby. He didn't understand how the kids at his high school had been able to put up with it.

None of this changed the constant niggling worries over what lay in the close future for them, how they would solve the problem, or how he would be able to return to his own world.

Seeing people walking on the path ahead of them, Jack pulled his head scarf closer around his face, diverting his eyes to his boots. He could feel the eyes of two women on them and muttered a short, falsetto greeting to them as he had countless other times as they'd met people over the few hours they'd been walking away from the castle.

The greetings were returned and uninterested eyes slid away to more interesting things.

The tension that had accumulated in Jack's shoulders eased away once again as the women passed around the bend of the corner behind them. He glanced at Karrena, opening his mouth for a quip only to snap it shut at a sound off to their right, behind some dense bushes. He grabbed her arm as he turned toward the bush, his eyes searching the leafy barrier. Another loud snap sounded and Jack decided that whoever or whatever it was, it was _huge_.

The intersection of two bushes moved and Jack's right hand reached for the knife he had concealed at his waist as his left pulled Karrena behind him and he began to push her backward. He wished he had time to retrieve his sword from beneath his skirts; the knife had a short range and would be little defence against a larger weapon and he was already at a size disadvantage.

A dark, hairy head burst through the foliage over three or four feet above Jack's head, followed quickly by shoulders and a torso. That torso was shortly followed by the dark, powerful horse half of a Centaur. Jack was surprised how close the Centaur had got before Jack heard him and couldn't help but respect the stealth of the creature. His hand stayed at his knife handle, ready if it was needed but he left it holstered. For now.

"Nightstar," he greeted after a few short seconds, Karrena still held safely behind him.

"Greetings, Jack O'Neill, Karrena Whiteman." Nightstar shifted his weight, his hooves barely making a noise on the cold, bare earth. His bearded face twitched in a small smile. "You may release your weapon now, Jack. I am not here to harm you."

Jack raised an eyebrow and left his hand on the knife handle. "You normally jump out of bushes at people?"

The smile twitched again. "No, but then I have never had reason to before."

Jack felt Karrena shift behind him and knew that she was going to object to his talking to Nightstar in this way when they had been heading to find the Centaurs to start with. He gave the hand he was still holding a small squeeze, hoping she'd recognise his reassurance and let him take control. For a moment he thought she was still going to object, but she hesitated a moment before shifting back to her original position.

"And what kind of reason warrants jumping out of bushes?" he replied calmly.

Nightstar gave a quiet chuckle and raised his hands toward the sky. "The reasons of the skies, of course. They told me that you would come to help us escape this dark time so here I was, waiting for you."

Jack stared at him. "The… skies… told you this…?"

This time, Karrena moved with more certainty, resting her free hand on Jack's shoulder. "I told you the Centaurs would be on our side."

He turned just in time to catch the small smile that she sent the larger creature. "Right." He tried to resist the snarky comment that rose to his lips; "But… in a bush!"

"I did not want to risk being seen."

"Why?"

Nightstar looked less amused now, and he could feel Karrena getting irritated at him.

"You are wanted for treason against the state."

"We are? And I thought it was just our charming personalities that made people want to keep us around."

Nightstar frowned and Jack waved the comment off. "Nevermind." He finally released his grip on the knife. "Well then, shall we move somewhere a little more… secluded?"

Karrena stepped away from him and raised an eyebrow. "Do you not mean somewhere you can remove your dress?"

Jack grinned. "That too."

Nightstar turned and headed back towards the bushes he had emerged from. "It is a short distance to my home; we will be safe there."

Jack gestured to Nightstar to lead the way, following after him but kept himself between Karrena and the Centaur. It seemed odd to him that the Centaur would just conveniently pop up, right in their path. He'd be aware, ready to protect himself and Karrena; just in case.

* * *

Well, you like? Let me know please :) 


	12. Preparation

Thanks to everyone who's reviewed! The feedback does spur me onwards, even if it doesn't seem like it update-wise. This chapter is unbeta'd as Vinnet is intelligent and is doing actual work instead of making an art form of procrastination, as I am working on :) Therefore, any mistakes are mine.

* * *

After nearly an hour of walking Jack began to become suspicious; they had not followed even the smallest rabbit path during their detour to follow Nightstar and they had been taking a long, circuitous route that doubled back several times and would have been extremely hard to follow. Either the Centaur was trying to get Jack and Karrena lost so they wouldn't be able to find their way back or he was trying to lose any possible pursuers; it could be either and both options made Jack uneasy.

He had just decided to give Nightstar the benefit of the doubt for only a few moments more when the Centaur stopped and half-turned, looking over his shoulder at them. "We are nearly arrived." Nightstar's eyes flicked toward the trees, resting for just a little too long on three different points.

Immediately, Jack tensed. There was definitely something off with the whole situation. Following the Centaur's eyeline Jack immediately spotted two small birds and a young grey squirrel. He doubted he would have seen them if the Centaur hadn't given them away. Nightstar began to turn back away, his powerful horse legs pushing him forwards.

"Stop right there." This time, Jack had paused for long enough to pull his sword out from its hiding place amongst skirts. Holding the scabbard in his left hand, he drew it with his right, placing himself in front of Karrena once again.

Nightstar stopped and twisted back again, stamping one hoof at the distinctive ring of a sword being drawn. In the fairly close growing trees the Centaur could not easily manoeuvre himself to turn a full circle; something that Jack was counting on.

"Sheath your sword, foal."

"How 'bout 'no'." Although the sword was unsheathed Jack held it loosely, the tip weaving slightly; if people were going to treat him like a child then he would only encourage them to underestimate him. It would only be their own fault when they left themselves open to him. "Where are you taking us?"

Nightstar opened his mouth to reply and Jack raised an eyebrow, making the Centaur re-think his answer. Instead, he closed his mouth and gave a deep belly-chuckle. "Older than you appear, indeed."

Jack's brow creased in slight confusion but he ignored the cryptic comment in favour of questioning the other. "You've been leading us around in circles and I know you're planning something ahead; what were those sentries for?"

Karrena turned to stare at Jack. "What do you mean, Jack? I saw no sentries."

He didn't look at her, keeping his attention on the horse-man and their surroundings. "A small squirrel, a robin and, I think, a blue tit." He gestured to the branches that he'd seen each of them on.

Nightstar's eyebrows raised slightly. "Impressive, but unnecessary. There is no trap laid for you, though I commend your caution."

"…I'm just supposed to trust you on that?"

"Ahead are a few Narnians who have fled the persecution of the hordes. They are those who are wise enough to see that all but the race of men are being targeted, and have recognised the danger to them."

Jack paused for a moment and absorbed the new information, weighing its truth.

Karrena laid a hand on his sword arm, "Jack, we _were_ going in search of the Centaurs."

Sighing, Jack gave a nod and sheathed his sword. "You could have told us, though." He commented, shooting the Centaur a dark look.

Nighstar gave a horse-like snort. "Where anyone could have overheard us?" He began to step out once again, turning his back on the two following him.

Following with his sword still in his hand Jack grumbled for a few minutes, knowing that he was wrong but not wanting to admit it. He quietened when Karrena gave him a sharp nudge and a disapproving look.

A short while later the trees began to thin out and they began to catch glimpses of movement in a clearing ahead of them.

"Ivy!" Karrena's murmur of surprise was barely audible but Jack heard, and shot her a questioning glance. "The dryad," she continued. "We used to play together as children; she was one of the few who would." She gave him a humourless smile "I was a slightly odd child."

Jack shrugged, "All the best are."

"I haven't seen her in several years."

"You trust her?"

"Yes."

"Well alrighty then." Jack counted about a dozen sets of eyes on them as they made their final approach. "Let's make some friends." He ignored the odd look that his suddenly chipper attitude earned him and settled for fixing what he hoped was a friendly smile on his face. It had been too long since he'd had any reason to practice his charms on anyone; of late he'd either been the cold, aloof 'cool guy' or the more natural petulant teenager.

The group had obviously spotted them before they reached the clearing, and made no attempt to hide the fact, greeting them with a mixture of wary looks and open smiles. There were two more Centaurs, the dryad Ivy, a he-fox, a pair of hawks, two dwarfs, a pair of squirrels and a large bear. All of them looked tatty and feathers and fur were lacking the gloss that they would normally have displayed. He didn't' see the small birds that had been working as sentries further out, though he suspected that one of the squirrels was the one he'd seen earlier, although he was hiding behind his larger companion.

"Howdy, folks." He waved a hand at them and received a few silent responses. None of them said anything and Jack turned to Karrena with raised eyebrows and a shrug, which she half-heartedly returned.

Nightstar stepped into the space between the two groups, "If we are to stop this atrocity from progressing any further then we should waste no time." He directed his stern gaze toward Jack and Karrena. "What do you know?"

Jack dropped the friendly look as he switched into a professional mode. He deferred to Karrena for the answer but she silently and resolutely shook her head. "Well, we know that whoever's doing this is using magic to pull the enemy in from somewhere distant. We also know that this person is very closely tied to Corrin – King Corrin – and they wanted us to think that it was him."

"How do you know this?" The fox demanded; he was one of the less receptive and more suspicious ones.

Jack glanced to Karrena; he knew that her magic made her uncomfortable and that she wouldn't appreciate having to tell others. Although she was now less convinced that the magic made her evil she was still convinced that others would think that she was. She was ashamed of her ties to the White Witch, even though they were so distant as to be almost nonexistent.

Still, this had to be done; it wasn't really something that they could lie about, or keep hidden, especially given that she would most likely have practice that magic in front of them soon.

She paled slightly, but gave him a minute nod; she understood.

"Karrena traced the source with her own magic," he paused for a moment, for effect. "It led to King Corrin but we don't think it's him. Karrena's known him since they were both children; he wouldn't be able to, never mind willing to do something like this."

One of the Hawks let out a distrustful squawk, "How do we know that it is not she who is causing this? How are we to know you are not lying to trick us?"

Jack glowered at the bird and opened his mouth to reply but was beaten to it by one of the second of the two new Centaurs. "You would doubt the word of a Son of Adam as well as that of the honest skies, Tynvan?" His tail flicked as if to emphasise his point.

Jack shrugged and began to turn away, "If you don't want our help then we'll just be heading off then…"

Tynvan ruffled his feathers, "Forgive me, Son of Adam. It is difficult for us to trust outsiders."

Turning back, Jack gave the Hawk a solemn nod. "Understandable, but you'll just have to trust our word on this."

The large bear captured him with a steady gaze, "On your honour as a true Son of Adam?"

Jack almost laughed at that, "Scouts honour; cross my heart and hope to die." The group still looked dubious and Jack rolled his eyes. "Yes, on my honour as a Son of Adam." He added '_whatever that means'_ within the confines of his own head.

"I- I believe them." A small voice issued from behind the larger of the two squirrels, where the smaller was partially hidden. It was a voice that Jack recognised and he raised an eyebrow as he stepped tentatively forward, hesitatingly meeting Jack's eyes.

"Fleetpaw?" Jack questioned.

The squirrel's back straightened and his chest puffed out at Jack's recognition but his eyes also brimmed with tears as he opened his mouth to defend their honour. "They helped me when everyone was killed."

Without thinking about it Jack stepped forward, almost tripping on the skirt he had forgotten he was wearing, and knelt in front of Fleetpaw, one hand on his shoulder. "Hey, buddy, it's alright." He gave the sniffing squirrel a small, conspiratorial grin, "Thanks for backing us up."

The dryad, Ivy, stepped forward too, standing in front of Karrena. "I, too, give them my trust." She gave her childhood friend a small smile. "Even as a child Karrena rarely used her magic consciously. She is too kind-hearted to do such evil deeds."

Karrena returned the smile, muttering her thanks to the dryad.

Nightstar was the next to step forward, "Always has Aslan sent us help in the form of Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve in times of need. Now is no different than any other; we Centaur's have put our faith into Jack and into Karrena. Despite everything that has been thrown at him, still he strives to help us in our need." He paused and swept his gaze across his companions before directing it back at Jack, meeting his eyes before lowering his head in a bow. "I will fight beside you with every last breath."

The other two Centaurs stepped forward within seconds, their gestures and voices echoing his pledge. With varying degrees of hesitation the rest of the group followed suit.

Jack was both awed and humbled. He wanted to tell them that he really didn't know what he was doing, if he would be helping or even if they would all be alive at the end of it but he knew the worth of hope, and faith. Whether it was faith in a god or a superior being, or faith in team mates or not being left behind, or even just faith in the fact that things will all be alright in the end faith could be one of the most powerful forces on earth; faith and hope could hold off death like nothing else he'd ever seen.

They all looked at him expectantly and he tried to think of something rousing to say. It took him only a few seconds to think of something.

"For Narnia!" He pumped a fist into the air.

"For Narnia!" Came the resounding response, filled with passion.

* * *

"We must rescue King Corrin at-"

"Oh, for crying out loud? For the millionth time; we can't just go barging in there! There's what… 15 of us against all of the King's army! And even then, we need to find out who's holding the strings!"

Karrena backed him up; "If we charge them now then not only will we all die, but then so will our only hope. We will forfeit everything."

The blonde Centaur – Farseer – grunted. "You would have us forfeit our honour and sneak around, hiding in the shadows. We must face them in battle, as the grown warriors we are!"

Jack threw his arms up in disgust, "That's just it! You're not all grown; Fleetpaw's only a child, and children have no place in a battlefield!"

The young squirrel's face fell and Jack let out a low groan. "Sorry, Fleetpaw. It's not that I don't think you would, or that you could; you just shouldn't _have_ to. If the whole world was hunky-dory then _no-one_ would ever have to fight _anyone_. But this isn't that world, and this isn't about honour and this damn well isn't some game to prove who's got the biggest-" Jack caught himself and reigned in his temper. "Look you want my help that's fine but it's my way or the highway."

Barely a second passed before Karrena boldly declared; "Jack has already proven himself to me. I will follow his lead."

The air was charged with tension as the rest of the group contemplated Jack's ultimatum. Though they did not understand the specifics of the 'highway' portion of the threat they understood the meaning.

After a few moments of harsh scrutiny the Centaurs stepped forward, almost as one. Nightstar spoke for them. "We, too, have already put our faith in Jack. Aslan would not have sent him to us if his wisdom were folly."

Ivy followed next, echoing the Centaur's acquiescence to Jack's ideas. The rest of the group followed in a staccato murmur of assent that lacked the conviction Jack would have liked. A team without trust was weak, at best and… he'd liked to have been able to say deadly at worst but the truth was that there were fates worse than death.

He restrained a sigh, replacing it with a hopeful smile; he'd just have to build their trust and be glad that they at least weren't galloping off and getting themselves killed on some misguided rescue attempt.

"Great. Now all we need is a plan…"

* * *

Please let me know what you think; feedback is my ambrosia. That, and cherry bakewells… and cheese… not both at the same time… 


	13. Battle

Authors Note: Once again, sorry for the delay; real life and all that. Blah, Blah, Woof Woof; I'm sure you've heard it all :)

Many thanks to Vinnet for betaing for me, and for all the work she put into this particular chapter. Still, the mistakes are mine because for some unknown reason I got it into my head halfway through that I was going to write in present tense and couldn't get back to writing in past. Being a superstar, Vinnet corrected it all for me. :D

Thank you for all of the reviews!

WARNING: Fairly graphic violence ensues; it is a battle scene

Apologies for the dodgy line breaks but the website doesnt want to play and put the right ones in. Or anything that looks even slightly nicer. Grr.

VVVVVV

Jack watched Karrena worriedly from his position crouched at the entrance to their makeshift tent. Being constantly on alert and ready to move at a second's notice was beginning to strain his muscles, but he'd learnt from her previous attempt to trace the source of the magic that she might try to run off and he was ready to stop her. She hadn't moved in the last half hour, however, and his muscles were threatening to cramp. He shifted slightly, careful not to disturb her concentration and glad that he'd been able to remove the disguise so that he could move his legs freely and without risking tripping.

They'd all agreed that before they attempted their plan Karrena should attempt what Jack had dubbed a 'tracer-spell' to see if they could uncover their enemy. There was still a chance that they'd end up going in essentially blind; Karrena thought that she would need to be much closer for her power to be strong enough to break through the barrier protecting whoever was holding the King's strings, but it wouldn't be wasted effort and it would also help to pinpoint Corrin's location. The Centaurs were reasonably certain that they knew where Corrin would be but Jack wanted to be certain; he knew what bad intel could cost.

So here he was, trying to get the blood flowing back into his legs again without breaking his self-appointed charge's concentration whilst being guarded by an assortment of odd creatures. He tried not to think about the latter part, or the fact that he was putting his trust in magic; to do that would mean that he'd have to admit that he was here, believing in _magic_ of all things and _that_, he was not ready for. A part of his mind suggested, in quiet moments, that it was some similar to the powers of the Ancients, but he didn't think about that too much either, or he'd notice the dissimilarities too.

As he stoically shifted his mind away from those confusing and mind-boggling subjects, he saw Karrena's posture shift and whipped an arm out to catch her as she lunged blindly for the opening in the tarpaulin that made their tent. She struggled for a brief moment, a frown creasing her forehead as she gave in and sat back. Her eyes were unfocussed but darted back and forth as if she was searching for something.

After a few minutes, her eyes focused and moved to settle on Jack's face. "Thank you," she said. "I think part of the spell is designed to make anyone trying to trace it reveal themselves."

"No problem. Any luck?"

She shook her head. "I could sense a figure, but it was in shadow. I know where the King is, however."

Jack gave a small smile. "Well, that's something." His smile slipped. "What is it?"

"I think they're in trouble. They're about to fight off a group of the raiders but they don't know that there are going to be ambushed. Jack… they'll all die."

Jack's face was stony now. "You're certain?"

She nodded silently.

"Looks like a change of plan, then." He turned and shuffled out into the open, grabbing the attention of Fleetpaw, who was standing guard outside. "Gather everyone together; we've got an emergency."

In a matter of minutes Jack's newly formed team had gathered and was waiting patiently for Jack to finish his muttered conversation with the pale, shaken Karrena.

Giving Karrena's arm a comforting squeeze as he turned away, Jack addressed his companions, his face grim. "Karrena couldn't figure out who it was behind the magic holding the King, but she did find something else out." He paused for a moment, looking around the group. "They're going to be ambushed, outnumbered, and overrun."

The Narnian team-members all showed their shock, outrage, and anger in different ways, each peculiar to their own species. Jack cut them off before they could take control of the conversation. "We're going in, and we're going in fast. They don't know that we know, and we're going to use that to our advantage. They're not too far away so we're going to go ASAP – Karrena says that the battle has already started, but the trap has not yet been sprung. The birds and squirrels are going to go ahead and scout ahead, let us know if there's anything out of the ordinary; the rest of us are going in, after, in a two-prong, pincer movement while Karrena tries to break the spell. It's not ideal, but it's the best we can do on short notice. Everyone understand?"

None of them spoke, but they all nodded their understanding. Jack took a moment to scan their faces. Most wore either grim expressions or blank masks, but the fear behind that was visible to Jack, although more in some than others.

Nodding once more, he sent the scouts off with Karrena's explanation of where the trap was laid. Before Fleetpaw darted off, Jack called to him. "I know you want to be there, fighting with everyone else, but I need you to do something for me. I need you to find Karrena once the rest of us arrive and stay with her. She's going to be concentrating so hard that she won't realise if anyone is creeping up on her, so I need you to stay with her, out of sight and make sure that she's safe." The young squirrel nodded, his chest puffing slightly with pride that Jack trusted him to protect someone so important to the cause as well as to Jack personally. "She'll stay behind a little way, hidden from view but still close enough to hopefully break the spell, okay?"

"I will not fail you, or Karrena, Jack." He replied solemly.

Jack gave him a tight smile, "Good man… uh, squirrel."

Fleetpaw gave one last, abrupt bow before suddenly scampering off, disappearing into the trees.

Jack sighed, the familiar, bitter pain of knowing that he was sending people to their deaths gnawing at his soul as he turned and headed back to the would-be tent. He ducked in, thinking nothing of the fact that Karrena was wearing only a shirt and a large pair of bloomers on her lower half.

"Jack!" She grabbed something to try to cover herself with.

"What?" He frowned at her for a second before his brain caught up and he realised that she was effectively in only her underwear, even if it did cover her to her knees. He turned around. "Sorry. I'm too used to girls who wear _far_ less outside in the middle of winter." A voice in the back of his mind tried to point out that he was also used to sharing with female officers and soldiers who would simply turn their backs if they had to change; so long as it was covered by underwear it was probably more covered than if they'd been on a beach somewhere hot. Male members of the SGC soon learned to do the polite thing and also turn away; the females, when they united, were a force to be reckoned with, as Hathor discovered.

"People from your world walk around in their undergarments?" Karrena's voice was punctuated by the disgruntled sounds universal to people trying to change in the confined quarters of tents.

"Not exactly. But our idea of undergarments are a _lot_ smaller than yours, and the normal clothes are usually just as small. It's _fashion_."

Karrena said nothing more on the subject, no doubt puzzling the idea over. "You may turn around now."

Jack turned to find her stood wearing a too-large shirt and trousers of a rustic fashion; the extra set that she'd acquired in the castle. "Fetching." Jack commented, earning himself a raise of an eyebrow.

He shrugged and moved to his own pile of stuff and began outfitting himself more practically in the gear that Corrin had given him, what seemed like so long ago. Shrugging into jerkin and mail and strapping on the various weapons that he'd acquired, Jack passed the warmer outer clothing to Karrena, knowing that it would serve her better as she tried to locate the person casting the spell on Corrin. He also knew that once the fight started, he would be more than warm enough, and the extra clothes would just get in his way.

Pausing for a moment and mentally checking that he had everything he was likely to need, Jack threw Karrena a tight smile. "Ready to do this?"

Swallowing down her unseen fears, she gave him a grim nod. "I am."

He reached out and put a hand on her shoulder, giving it a small squeeze. "I'll be alright. You'll see." Saying nothing more, he led her outside to their newly formed and tragically inexperienced team, quickly and quietly dividing them into two evenly sized groups, leaving those of the same species together. He knew from experience that people who knew each other would work best together in this kind of situation. "Team A is with me and we'll go to the North of the fight. Team B; Farseer is in charge and you'll head to the South. Karrena will be a short way off, to the West. Right, we need to get there ASAP so the smaller, slower of us are going to ride on the backs of the Centaurs. They-"

He was immediately interrupted by the outraged cries of the team as they protested, saying that Centaurs were not Dumb Beasts to be ridden.

"Hey!" he yelled, silencing them. "Do I need to remind you that this isn't exactly a normal situation? There are people's lives at stake here! Hell, I'd carry you myself if I thought it would get us there any faster." He swept his gaze around the group, all of whom looked slightly abashed. "Nightstar, can you take Karrena and I, and drop her somewhere safe, in range?"

"I can. As you have already stated, there are more important things than pride, in war."

Jack nodded his gratitude. "Right, so lets get moving, people!"

With that last command, he pulled Karrena over to where Nightstar had positioned himself by a rock to set the example for the rest of the team. Jack wasted no time before giving Karrena a boost up before hoisting himself up behind her.

"Hold onto my waist, if you must." Nightstar instructed them and Karrena carefully and shyly did as she was told, her legs gripping the horse chest in a habitual way. Both she, and Jack had to make an effort not to use their legs to try to direct him.

After a few moments of shuffling, grunts, and Dwarfish curses, they were on their way, charging through the trees at a frightening pace, barely missing branches as they flew.

Jack's one attempt to look behind and check on the others earned him only a glimpse of the two other Centaurs peeling off to their southward route with the dark form of the He-bear lumbering quickly after them, and a slap in the face from an errant tree branch as he turned back. Hunkering down behind Karrena, he could just make out the lithe form of the Dryad Ivy as she flowed over the ground just ahead of them. Already the battle-rush was setting in; all that mattered was the moment, nothing before or after.

In what seemed like the blink of an eye but was in reality just shy of the ten minute mark, Nightstar was slowing and heading toward a small, enclosed bush area and dropping Karrena off. Snow had started to sprinkle the ground and grow thicker as it got closer to the battle. Through the trees, they caught glimpses of glinting armour and roiling masses and even at this distance of twenty or thirty metres, the noise was deafening.

Jack held her eyes for a few seconds before nodding as Nightstar turned away to follow Ivy and the He-Fox around to the north of the skirmish, the avian warriors having flown on ahead. Karrena ducked into the limited shelter that the bushes offered and offered up a silent prayer to Aslan as she made herself comfortable and pulled out the small carved lion from beneath her clothes, clutching it tightly in her hand as she closed her eyes and began to concentrate.

Within moments, Jack was at the edge of the battle, sliding off of Nightstar's back and squashing the fear that rose in him as he realised the magnitude of just what he was attempting to do. There were several hundred on Corrin's side, though many of them seemed to be local people who had taken up weapons, claws, or teeth when they realised what was happening. On the other side were two or three times as many large, well-armed men and beasts that were quickly overrunning the remaining forces, despite the apparently short amount of time that they had been battling.

Setting his sights high, Jack went straight in for a large Minotaur who was preying on a young, red haired dwarf a fraction of its size. Swiping his sword across the back of the Minotaur's knees, Jack cut the vital tendons holding the beast standing, causing it to suddenly lurch forwards, falling on its face before Jack impaled it through the heart.

He ignored the disgusted look that the dwarf gave him and moved on to the next one, batting aside the swords of others as he moved.

Through glimpses between fights, he built up a picture of the battle; at the western side, Corrin and his nobility were at the focus of the fighting, on slightly raised ground, many of them using bows and arrows to pick off the enemy whilst being protected by the soldiers between them.

If he'd had time for a spare thought between dodges and strikes, Jack might have considered just how _convenient_ their position, and the enemy's inability to fire anywhere near that hill was.

Catching the powerful blow of a burly blonde man's sword on his own, Jack felt his shoulder wrench and he threw himself sideways, onto frozen ground that was slick with warm blood.

VVVVVV

She was getting close; she could feel the spell that was wound around Corrin like a snake, suffocating his will, and she could trace its pattern. She felt it loosening, although the hold on King Corrin was still as strong. She was nearly there, nearly had it figured out when it suddenly tightened up again, and the convolutions become that much more confusing and baffling. She felt that her work had just become even harder and would take longer.

Her grip on the wooden lion tightened.

VVVVVV

Jack pushed himself up with his good arm, weakly batting away an incoming claw with the sword in his hand, wincing as the muscles in his shoulder protested. The other set of claws belonging to a mangy werewolf still caught his side, bruising his ribs, even though the light chain main protected him from being cut.

He swiped again at the werewolf, but already it was scampering away, clawing at people half heartedly as it followed most of its companions away from the battle.

Many of the human soldiers, however, remained and continued to fight. The tide of the battle had turned, though, and Jack began to make his way toward the hillock on which Corrin stood.

Out of the corner of his eye, Jack caught a glimpse of a sword coming in at his head and ducked, forcing screaming muscles to send his sword straight out to his side, impaling his would-be killer through the abdomen, only to have his weapon wrenched from his grasp as his attacker fell away and cradled his wound.

Before he had a chance to look up again, something hit him in the right shoulder, forcing him to stagger backwards and spinning him around slightly. Marginally dazed, he turned his head to look at the arrow now sticking out of his shoulder.

The arrow, slowed by the chain mail that it had to go through to reach the soft skin of his shoulder, had imbedded itself in the tissue, but he doubted that it broke any bones. Reaching up with his left hand, he stifled a cry as he broke the wooden shaft off. He knew better than to try to pull the barbed and probably mangled head out of the flesh.

He stared at the shaft for a moment before looking up and searching the hillock from his new, closer vantage point. No-one was looking his way, triumphant at having shot him, but nonetheless, he was certain it is one of them. The direction and the style of the shaft told him that.

At that same moment, he noticed that Corrin had suddenly turned and was marching away, heading West with his sword out and a look of blank determination on his face.

_Karrena!_

In seconds, he was in motion, absently picking up a short sword as he went, but not entirely sure if it was the one that he just lost. Stumbling over the dead and dying of both sides, he raced forward, skirting the bottom of the hillock before almost barrelling into the King, who regarded him for a short moment before raising his sword and swinging it at Jack.

Jack's reaction was almost too slow, and the movement was agonising, but he put every last effort into delaying, hoping that Karrena would have time to break the spell.

Because he was weakened, Jack had to put almost as much effort into not injuring Corrin by accident as he did into fighting the larger, stronger man off.

He desperately parried low and left before letting out an agonising scream as he had to move the sword high and to the right, his reactions too slow as Corrin brought the sword around to Jack's left again, the sword aimed at his unprotected head.

At the last moment the sword was twisted and instead of bisecting Jack's head, it connected solidly, sending the man in the boy's body reeling sideways before he fell to the ground, still.

Corrin didn't give him another glance as he turned away and headed for the bush where Karrena was hiding. "The Evil Witch must die!" he declared.

VVVVVV

Even as she felt small, cold paws on her face, trying to wake her, Karrena's opportunity came. For an instant, the magic faltered, something outside of her influence affecting it, and in that moment, Karrena pushed her own magic forward and reached the source, suddenly seeing, feeling everything in a flash of understanding that made her involuntarily vomit.

Her eyes snapping open as she did it, she just managed to push the small form of the grey squirrel away, leaving the remains of her food in a puddle by her foot.

"Sorry-" she gasped, but Fleetpaw interrupts her.

"Run, run Karrena! King Corrin comes, he comes to kill you!"

As soon as the words were spoken, she noticed the tell-tale sounds of someone storming through the woods. "Lady Sinere!" She hisses at Fleetpaw, "Tell Jack that it's Lady Sinere!" She scrambled out of one side of the trees as the squirrel darted out of the other, eyes wide, the importance of his message fuelling legs that were already trembling with fear.

An incessant chattering accompanied Jack's painful headache as he fought his way back to consciousness, fuelled by the knowledge that there was something important he had to be doing, although he can't quite remember what it was just yet.

VVVVVV

He opened his eyes and eventually focused on the form of a squirrel – Fleetpaw, his scrambled brain informed him – who was pulling urgently at his collar.

"Lady Sinere!" he chattered. "Karrena said to tell you it is Lady Sinere!"

Everything rushed back and he pushed himself up with a speed he wouldn't have thought himself capable of. Looking around, he found the tall, ethereal form of his enemy, eyes clouded as she concentrated on something he couldn't see.

He whipped out two small knives and took only the briefest moment to focus and aim before he threw them, one after the other, even as Karrena came tearing into the scene at the corner of his vision, shortly followed by Corrin.

As the knives hit; a glancing blow to her left arm, and one deep into her chest, Corrin faltered, stumbling and falling to his knees.

Karrena ran to Jack, grabbing his right arm, not realising the pain that this caused him as she kept hold as she walked behind his stumbling form, panting and trembling.

"What- What's happening?" Corrin's clichéd question and look of bewilderment were short-lived as the bloody knife pulled from the witch's chest was suddenly thrust against his throat and he daren't look away from the approaching duo.

"Stop where you are!"

Jack halted and the continued momentum nearly sent him to his knees. For some reason, Sinere didn't seem to notice that Karrena had continued moving. Jack made a point of not looking at her, holding the widening eyes of the King instead.

"I would have rid Narnia of all of the impure beasts and ruled well; all would have loved me, and we could have had a world of order!"

Still she didn't seem to notice Karrena, even though she was picking up a sword and walking toward her, raising it in her arms.

"I could have fulfilled my heritage and ruled as the White Witch once did, bringing order to this-"

Her words cut off in a gurgle as she fell backwards, sword stuck halfway through her neck as Karrena stumbled backwards, her face white as she dry retched before passing out.

Jack looked around, realising for the first time that they had an audience held in rapture. The battle rush began to seep out of him as he realised that it was all over and cold darkness began to creep in.

"Hello Darkness, my old friend…"

VVVVVV

I hope you like! If you want more, sooner, then I suggest you review. They spur my muse on and make me want to write more :D


	14. Homecoming

I apologise a thousand times over for the length of time that it took me to post this, and for the low quality of it now it's here. I realised the other day, when I started re-reading the story to try and get back into it to finish it, that I really just didn't like it all that much. It was the realisation that there were so many cliches, particularly ones that put me off a story, in the first few paragraphs, and the quality of my writing has not been satisfactory... still, I've done what I can with this last chapter; honest reviews are welcome as this is not only unbetaed but I will probably also be re-posting a better ending. I tried to tie up the loose ends but... i couldn't remember half of them. sigh

I hope you enjoy nonetheless, and thank you to all the poeple who have reviewed. I'm sorry to disappoint you all but... I just couldn't do it justice in the many versions of this chapter I tried. This is the best of a bad bunch. Of course, watching all 9 seasons of the x-files in the space of about 2 months probably didn't help...

* * *

Jack awoke slowly, surging up from his injury-induced sleep and breaking into wakefulness with a groan. Keeping his eyes closed against the brightness he could already feel stabbing deep into his brain he silently took stock of his surroundings.

There were voices a short way off; a muffled murmur that rose and fell as the owners argued. He couldn't make out what they were saying but he guessed that had been what had woken him.

A twitching of his limbs not only assured him that they were all still attached, but also alerted him to the fact that sudden movement would _not_ be a good idea. His eyes had begun to adjust to the brightness and he decided to risk cracking them slowly open, turning his face away from the source of the light. A moment later he was able to cautiously raise himself and survey his surroundings from his position propped up in the bed. A cursory inspection of the room informed him that he had been returned to Cair Paravel; the portrait of Aslan gazed back at him, solemn and knowing.

The soft click of the door opening broke him from his stare-off with the painting and he turned to see the owners of the arguing voices enter.

"You are awake!" Corrin looked surprised, and slightly guilty, to see Jack staring at him from the four-poster.

Karrena stepped back outside for a moment and muttered something to someone unseen before entering the room properly and shutting the door behind her. "How do you feel?" she questioned as she moved to his bedside.

Jack tried to croak out an answer but managed only a squeak until he cleared his voice and tried again. "Like I had three kinds of crap kicked out of me. How are you?"

"I am well, thank you." Karrena replied with a small smile.

Corrin had the good grace to look a little sheepish when Jack transferred his gaze to him, an eyebrow raised slightly. "I, too, am well, thanks be to you and Karrena. Narnia would be lost without you."

Wary of the punishment his body was threatening to deal out if he moved too much Jack gave the barest of shrugs. "Next time make sure you listen to the right people."

Corrin's face was grim as he accepted the admonishment, nodding his agreement.

"And…" Jack continued, his lips quirking in a slight grin, "try not to let people put the mind-control whammy on you either."

Corrin relaxed slightly, his own lips twitching wryly in reply. "I will certainly bear that in mind; however, I hope that it will never come to that again."

Jack grunted in agreement. "So what had Sinere promised the- her army to get them to fight, then?"

"The men she promised sole occupation and human rule of Narnia for the rest of eternity." Corrin's face was grave.

"Ethnic cleansing and despotism seem to go hand in hand whatever alternate universe I end up in."

"It horrifies me to realise how many followed her so willingly. I had thought the philosophies of King Miraz and the men of Telmar were far behind us."

"My lord," Karenna cut in, "We were all mistaken in that respect; it was not your fault."

Corrin's mouth twisted in a grimace, "I am their King; I am responsible for their welfare and I let them down."

Jack nodded, understanding Karrena's desire to relieve Corrin of some of his guilt but also understanding that, as a leader, he had to take responsibility for the people under his command. "He's right Karrena. He _is_ their King, and he has a responsibility to the people he rules."

Karrena scowled at him, "He is only one man, how can he be held responsible for the actions of all the beings in Narnia?"

Jack shook his head slightly, "He's not _only_ one man; he's _the_ _king_. He can be held responsible for all those people because he accepted that responsibility when he accepted the crown." He glanced at Corrin, noting the grim expression on his face. "And you know it, don't you." It wasn't a question but Corrin nodded nonetheless. "Still," Jack turned to face Karrena with a brighter smile. "He's not completely alone; he's got us."

Karrena flushed pink and studiously refused to meet the eyes of Corrin, who had gone a similar shade of suddenly-self-conscious.

Jack rolled his eyes, and quashed the slight feeling that rose in him unbidden, not even admitting to himself that he could be feeling slightly jealous that they had found some kind of happiness with each other while he was struggling even to find himself, recently. "So what about the rest of the army then?"

Corrin cleared his throat, "the rest of the evil and dark creatures were compelled to be there through magic."

"When Sinere was distracted and had to divert some of her concentration and energy they were released from the magic and fled."

Jack nodded, fitting the pieces into his disjointed and hazy memories. "What about- " His question was answered as a small grey form pushed its way in through the door and scurried towards him, shortly followed by the lithe form of Ivy, who smiled as she met Jack's eyes.

She must have seen the pinched look of fear in Jack's eyes, his face otherwise unreadable, as she reassured him. "There are many more of our group who await a time when they will be able to visit you without draining your energy."

Some of the tension drained out of Jack's shoulders as he turned to face Fleetpaw, who now stood patiently by his bedside. "Hey buddy, how you doing?"

The squirrel stepped forward, "I am well, thank you. Thanks to you, and to Karrena."

Karrena shifted uncomfortably, wrapping her arms around her chest as she forced a smile. It was clear to Jack that she was not comfortable with her role in the events at the battle, though he had no doubt that she would do the same again, if she had to. He himself knew that it was not easy to take the life of another being.

He turned his attention back to Fleetpaw, "Oh I don't know about that. I heard that it was you who saved the day; living up to your name and getting me the message in time." The young animal's chest swelled with pride at the praise from his hero, chattering away and filling Jack in on all of the details that he had not yet heard, and confirming many of Jack's suspicions. He only left when Ivy, self-appointed nurse and guardian, insisted that he allow Jack to get some rest.

* * *

Jack paused in his wanderings, turning to look at the fountain in the King's gardens and smiling as he remembered the first time that he had seen it. He had come here many times since he had recovered enough to get out and about. As much as he was now enjoying his time in Narnia he longed for the world of the familiar.

He now understood that the statue of the woman pouring water from her hands that made the fountain was a Naiad; a water-nymph. When he had been given the option of leaving his room for the first time he had asked to come here, secretly hoping that he would find the door re-opened and be able to return home. As his body had healed he had come here more and more often, content to simply sit and enjoy the peacefulness as he had used to do when fishing at his cabin.

He'd had a lot of time to think during his convalescence and had made peace with many of inner demons he had harboured, ignoring them to his own detriment.

"It is good to see that you have found yourself again, young one."

Jack whirled around as the deep voice rumbled behind him, wincing as the quick movement put a little bit too much stress on his almost-healed body. Aslan was sitting beside a door that led to nothing, Jack's backpack on the ground beside him. "What's that supposed to mean?" Jack queried an eyebrow raised as he shifted his weight. Nervous excitement mixed with a kind of sadness as he realised that this could mean that he could go home.

The Great Lion said nothing, but fixed Jack with a penetrating stare, making him shift uncomfortably; he got the overwhelming feeling that Aslan knew that he'd understood the comment. However, true to his old self, Jack would continue to feign ignorance even when it was obvious that he understood.

"It is time for you to return."

"What, no long sweet goodbyes?"

"Your clothes and possessions will return, however, your scars will remain. A reminder of the cost of losing faith."

"Gee, thanks."

Aslan stood and padded forward, his giant paws making no noise on the springy grass. Stopping in front of Jack, he bent his neck down and delivered a rasping kiss to Jack's forehead, filling Jack with a sense of comfort before he stepped back out of the way and gestured toward the waiting door. "Go, Son of Adam. They will understand your absence."

Jack opened his mouth, a smart reply on the tip of his tongue but instead he contented himself with closing it, a small smile twisting at his lips as he shook his head and started forwards, snatching his backpack off of the ground as he reached for the handle of the door.

Pausing and looking back, he caught sight of King Corrin and Karrena, stood close together in the gateway to the garden, staring dumbstruck at Aslan, Jack, and the doorway. Flashing them a grin and a loose salute he took a breath and braced himself to explain the weeks of absence.

He stopped suddenly, surprised, as Miss Kandinsky looked up from her desk with a querying look. Still holding the doorknob, Jack turned and looked out of the doorway and into the corridor, seeing students streaming out of classes towards their long awaited lunch break.

"Can I help you, Jack?" The English teacher asked, sounding almost as puzzled as Jack.

"Did I- Were you- What date is it?" He finally settled on the final question only to be interrupted before he could get an answer by the sudden arrival of Mr Shore, who practically ran into Jack as he came storming into the class room.

"_Mister O'Neill_!" The older teacher exclaimed with glee at finding Jack so easily. "I do believe that you owe me a physics assignment!"

Jack stared, dumbfounded for a moment before finally asking, "I do?"

"Yes. In fact, it was due second period, which you failed to attend."

"Oh crap. I uh- I'm afraid I don't have it, Sir."

"I suspected as much. Your mark for this assignment will be zero and you will have detention with me after school for the rest of this week."

Jack groaned but nodded. "What if I finish the assignment and hand it in to you tomorrow, can I at least get a grade that way?"

The gleeful look on Mr Shore's face faded a little as he realised that Jack was not all that cut up about the punishment and he opened his mouth to deny him the chance to rescue his grade average only to be cut off by Miss Kandinsky, who had risen from her chair and joined them in the doorway.

"If Jack's willing to do the work tonight, then I'm sure that a penalty of, say, 10 marks is a suitable punishment for his tardiness."

Jack shot her a grateful look. "I'll actually do the work this time, Mr Shore. Scout's honour." He saluted with three fingers and gave his best innocent grin.

He could see Mr Shore's jaw working for a long moment before he gave in, obviously unable to find a legitimate reason to penalise Jack any further. "Have it on my desk first thing in the morning." He nodded tensely to Miss Kandinsky before turning smartly on his heel and leaving.

Jack waited until he had left before turning to the other teacher. "Not that I'm not grateful, but why'd you stand up for me? I haven't exactly been the poster child for good behaviour at school."

Miss Kandinsky shrugged, "I believe in second chances… well, fourth or fifth chances." She smiled innocently as she moved back to sit behind her desk again, "Plus, Greg Gibbins won't hold the team together nearly well enough to win the game next week."

Jack gave a sharp snort of laughter. "Well… thanks." He said. "I know I can be a pain in the ass."

Miss Kandinsky frowned at him obviously perplexed by his sudden change in attitude. For her it had been just hours before that he'd disrupting the class with snide and often hurtful comments, following the opinions of the crowd and ignoring anyone who wasn't a jock or cheerleader. Turning to leave he ran into the tall, gangly frame of Lee Longman, nearly sending the other boy flying.

"Woah, watch it, there." Jack exclaimed and Miss Kandinsky let out a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding. Obviously the teenager hadn't changed much after all. Her eyebrows shot up once again as she realised that rather than starting a fight with the scrawny younger boy, Jack had steadied him, catching the pile of books Lee had nearly dropped in fright. He handed the stack back, "They'll give you a hernia if you're not careful." Leaving him with a friendly pat on the arm, Jack shot off down the corridor, leaving Lee and Miss Kandinsky to stare at one another in puzzlement.

"Was he just… nice to me?" Lee eventually asked, his voice wavering slightly.

"I do believe so."

"But… I'm a geek."

Miss Kandinsky nodded. "I think I just got an apology out of him." She added, bemused.

"A sincere one?" Lee asked, dropping his books on the desk with a loud thump.

Miss Kandinsky nodded silently before gathering herself together; "Anyway, what can I do for you, Lee?"

Only time would show that the changes in Jack's character were both real, and permanent. Sure, he was still always ready with a quip or a smart comment, but they were no longer barbed and hurtful, and he began to actually pay attention and do his work.

No one was ever really able to say what had caused the sudden change in the odd, but likeable, teenager. Even the councillor who insisted on seeing Jack when the coach spotted the strange scars that had appeared on him overnight couldn't puzzle him out. Jack insisted that the scars had always been there; the result of the car accident that had killed his parents, although no-one ever remembered seeing them there before.

The facts fit, and so the subject was mostly dropped. Every now and then, though, someone would mention it but Jack's only response would leave them even more puzzled; they could never figure out the reasons for his frequent inscrutable smile.

* * *

Please be honest, so that I can work to make it better. :) 


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